Doctrine of Valor
by 111 Oats
Summary: (The work formerly known as Fractured and Burned) Heroes are not born. I believe that you become a hero through adversity, you learn to adapt and grow and take things as they come. That said, there are no people more brave than the people who, like me, fought in a war that was not their own. They are heroes. We are the Shepherds. Multiple OCs, SI, Strong Language.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I am poor and own nothing.**

 **After more than a year of being out, I've decided to revamp this chapter, as well as the next handful. The first chapter is supposed to leave a good impression, and this one is—well, WAS lacking. So I'm coming back to improve upon it. See you all on the other side!**

I woke without as much as a gasp. Despite it being the best sleep I could ever remember having, there were several things wrong with this. The short grass blowing in the wind tickled my face, and I realized this was not where I fell asleep.

One, it was a pleasantly warm day with a hint of a breeze and summer green grass. For the middle of a Minnesotan spooky month, this was unusual in itself.

Two, I was sleeping on the ground. The _bare_ ground, in the middle of nowhere without a blanket or a similar piece of cloth. There were no buildings in sight. Just me, The clothes on my back, and the sword laying across my lap—neither of which were mine—as I sat up amongst rolling green hills and a subtle dirt road weaving between them.

Three, I did not own a tunic, sword, or pauldron. Whoever or whatever dropped out in the boonies decided to leave me with some spare clothes, a weapon, and armor of all things, while all of my own belonging were gone.

Instinctively, I patted my pocket, looking for my phone. I found nothing, and made frantic swipes across the remaining pockets and folds of this foreign garment to no avail. The Gen-Z'er in me began to panic, and I shot to my feet.

The sword clattered to the ground. It dislodged in its sheath, revealing a gleaming steel blade. My eyes lingered on the shining metal for a moment before jerking upward. I spun in mad circles in a last ditch attempt to spot any hint of familiarity.

Finding nothing, I collapsed to the ground. My mind was going haywire. With nothing to base my location off of, and no phone to call for help, I was shut-down. Desperation and fear killed any semblance of coherent thought. "Oh god," I muttered, once or twice more afterward, and ran a hand through my dark, curling hair. My fingers caught on a metal-branded headband, however, which I tore off and threw to the dirt in frustration.

I had to cool down. My mind was still a roiling pit of uncertainty and distress, meaning this novel idea didn't occur to me until I was flat on my back once more, facing the sky. However long that took, I had no idea. Felt like hours. My breathing slowed during that time, and my panic faded to a fog in the back of my mind. A similar haze walled off any memory between falling asleep last night and waking up here. I racked my brain, but came up with nothing. Not even a dream to mistake for reality. This blankness in my head left me with an ironic headache.

I told myself to stand up. Sitting here, stewing, would do me no good. The thin dirt road had to lead somewhere, right? Though I did not know a single dirt road near my home, my knowledge of said area was lackluster to say the least.

The difference between which direction I chose was imperative. If I went the wrong way, I could be wandering for hours more than I needed to.

I debated with myself on whether to start my trek facing North or South, based on the sun, and a tug on my subconscious urged me to go North. A _serious_ tug, at that, like a rope tied around my skull yanking me down the road. The same tug made me grab the sword and sheathe. At that point, I grabbed the headband as well. I didn't bother strapping either on before taking my leave.

Mindless wandering down a path was far from an exciting experience, in all honesty. The area around me was peaceful—blue skies, green grasses, and all that—but my psyche was still addled. If I paid the slightest attention to the area around me, I was reminded of where I wasn't. In other words, anything I didn't tune out, I was too stressed to take it in.

Dirt, dirt, and more dirt.

I crested a hill and planted my hands on my knees with a deep breath. A cluster of buildings, several dozen, cast from stones with red-tiled roofs, lay at the bottom of my hill. A larger road led out of the town, and five or six smaller paths led out in different directions. My stomach sank. Memories of my brother's Europe pictures resurfaced, because I could not picture houses like these anywhere else. To my chagrin, I was not from Europe. More than 3000 miles of ocean stood between those countries and mine.

At the same time, I was relieved. Even if I was a long way from home, civilization was civilization.

I descended the hill and was soon strolling along the tiled streets. There were no cars. On the dirt roads, I had not seen any cars either. I chalked that up to it being a boondock country road, but in a town this far out, there had to be some cars, right? How would you get to metropolitan areas without a car? This was bizarre.

Maybe it was a European thing, I told myself. I could not bring myself to put my faith in that excuse, but it was all I had. I repeated it like a mantra in my head. I drilled that shit in.

In the end, it was a pointless endeavor. The excuse of ignorance could only have brought me so far. Its mileage came to an end when I met the first resident of this township. Dressed in a plain, green dress laced up the back like a corset and a pink cloth wrapped about her head to cover the majority of her blonde hair. She was lugging a wicker basket piled with fruit down the way.

I heard chattering further ahead, but my attention was on this pre-Rennaissance-village-maiden-looking fuck walking in front of me. I was shocked into dropping the sword. The noise of sheathed steel on stone caught the woman's attention, and she got a blatant look and my wide-eyed, jaw-dropped stare.

"Can I help you?" she asked. It didn't register. I was lucky she spoke English… American English…"Sir? Can I help you?"

I closed my mouth and said, "Uh, no, I'm—actually, yes. Could… could you tell me where I am?"

She flashed a bright, perfect smile. "A lost traveler, eh? A mercenary by the looks of it." She nodded to the sword on the ground, then the pauldron on my shoulder. _She isn't surprised in the_ slightest _that I have a sword with me? What the actual fuck?_

I nodded dumbly.

"Well you're in luck." She rested her basket against her hip. "You've found yourself in Southtown. Just a day's travel southwest of Ylisstol."

My heart stopped. My brain went dead. My blood went still, hell froze over, and the sky fell to the earth. Before I knew what happened, all of my colors swirled to black and I heard a muffled thud.

 _A mint green light flooded my vision. There was nothing else. I was nothing. I had no shape. I waved nonexistent hands in front of a nonexistent face that saw nothing but green. In complete disregard to this, I felt like I was expanding. A constant hum filled the stagnant emptiness like music, surrounding me. It drew closer and louder. The more prevalent it grew, so too did I grow larger. Without a scale to compare myself to, I had no proof, but I was sure that I dwarfed what I was when I came here. It was like stretching, but the burn never ended and I wasn't moving._

 _The humming surpassed all of my other senses. I saw no light and felt no more growth. The hum engulfed me, swallowed me, but a higher-pitched noise came from left field. It cut through the hum, and I realized it was a scream. The terrified shriek peeled through the pleasant music like a sword, a clean slice through peace._

The surreal dream came to an end as I gasped. I threw myself straight into a sitting position and clutched a shaking hand to my head. _Where… Where am I?_ I was in a bed nothing like my own. My walls weren't made from bricks. My windows had glass, not swinging wooden doors.

What the fuck was happening? Southtown? Ylisstol? No, nope, not happening. I was _not_ in Ylisse. There was no possible way for that. Someone was playing a trick on me, or something. Some elaborate trick and I was tripping myself deeper. Maybe a jab at how much time I spent playing Fire Emblem. There was no way this was real in any other capacity. My world was spinning, even as a soft hand came to rest on my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" the woman from outside asked. I put her under extreme scrutiny. I inspected every detail of her face from the shape of her eyes to the gentle slope of her nose to the way her ear dove straight into her jawline at its end. She _had_ to be someone I knew. "Sir?"

If anything, her voice should have triggered a memory. Instead, I drew blanks. Unfamiliar, a complete stranger she was. "Uh, what?"

"I asked if you are alright," she repeated. Her hands were clasped in her lap. She sat on a wooden chair next to this cot.

"What happened?"

"You fainted in the street. My brother helped me bring you back here and went to get a healer in case you were injured. But you seem fine." Her brow furrowed in concern, and she frowned. "Even if you are rather pale."

"Can—" I cleared my throat. "Can I have a drink?" My mouth was dry, but I was by no means thirsty. I just needed an excuse to be alone with my thoughts.

"Of course. I'll get some tea." She stood and walked out of the room.

Tea. Her first idea of a drink was tea. I lay back down and stared out the open window. Sitting on the sill was a red-covered book. A language like scribbles was scrawled in gold along the spine. I stood and grabbed the book to get a look at its face. Emblazoned on the front in a silvery-gold was a symbol like fire. I flipped it open, and more of those strange markings filled what must have been a hundred pages. "Oh good god," I breathed, holding my head. This was absolutely insane. There was no way anyone I knew would go to these lengths for a prank.

I dropped the tome. My legs went weak, and I stumbled back to the cot.

If someone tells you that something is true, would you believe them? Chances are, you'd take their word for it, but you wouldn't _really_ believe it. Not until you saw it. Then you'd let out something akin to a "Wow, that's amazing," or "I can't believe it." In other words, we don't believe unless we see it.

This was the exact opposite. It was a lot harder to tell myself that what I was seeing was real. I was being overloaded. How was I supposed to convince myself that I wasn't losing my mind? If everything I was experienced was meant to be fictional in every sense of the word, what did that mean for reality? I was living fiction, an incomprehensible situation.

The woman returned after some time with a tray with a kettle and two cups, humming a tune as she set them down on her chair. "I apologize in advance," she said. "This blend isn't anything special, but it's all we've got for now. My brother and I are planning on heading to Themis for more variety."

I said nothing and sipped the cup she poured for me in silence.

"Speaking of," she put a finger on her chin in thought, "he's sure taking his time finding that healer. You are feeling alright, yes?" I nodded. "That's good. If you don't mind my asking, what is your name? I don't believe we've had our introductions yet. I'm Ilya."

I hesitated. The speck of myself that still hoped this was an overly elaborate joke died at her straight-faced delivery of the fictional name. "Z—"

I was cut off by a scream. My mouth clamped up, Ilya and I shared a wide-eyed look, then both bolted to the window to see the source of the disturbance. "A fire?" the woman observed. Indeed, smoke was rising over the buildings. I couldn't see a fire, but you know the old saying. "We should go help." She took off, stepping past me and hurrying out the door.

I didn't know this place, but I would have been rotten not to go with. I paused before following, however, as several pieces clicked together. I was in Southtown. A very _intact_ Southtown.

I had a sneaking suspicion that this smoke was leading to something bigger than a fire. I grabbed the sword I'd brought with me and ran out the door.

Ilya was long gone and the street was empty. My best sense of direction was directly toward the danger. I ran that way without a second thought. I was not a fighter. I'd never been one for violence, and hadn't gotten into as much as a schoolyard scuffle in my relatively peaceful childhood. Still, I had a sword. I had a weapon with me. I had to at least try, right?

I rounded corner after corner of the loosely packed houses, eye on the pillar of smoke in the sky, until I found myself in a wide open plaza. A river ran through the north end, connected by a bridge that led straight to a tall chapel. A handful of shirtless men wielding axes were running about the place, herding all of the villagers they could into the church. Those that didn't cooperate were cut down on the spot in as gruesome a fashion as could be done swiftly. Each spray of blood was punctuated by the scream of a survivor, who obeyed their next command with rivers of tears running down their faces.

Tucked in an alley between two houses, I was safe. No one had spotted me yet. I could still run.

I looked down at the sword in my hand. My knuckles were white from how tight I squeezed the hilt, and it shook with my quivering nerves. I could have laughed. Did I really expect myself to try and fight these madmen when the simple thought of it left me shaking in my boots?

No, no, I could leave right now. The Shepherds would take care of this when they arrived. They were better equipped and trained to deal with barbarians, as well, so really, having myself stay here would only put me in the way.

I nodded to myself. "Right, I'll just—" I spun on my heel. Every intention of slipping away unseen was blown of the motherfucking water when a massive, calloused man-hand shoved against my chest and pushed me out into the street. I stumbled and fell to the stone-tiled ground.

"Well, well, well," came an over-bearing voice. Standing over me was another one of those shirtless men. And he was massive. A barrel chest paired with broad shoulders topped by a rough cloak of furs and a thick loincloth around his waist. "Looks like we got ourselves a hero, eh?" He hefted an Iron axe up and rested it on his shoulder while a terrifying grin spread across his face. His ragged brown hair was covered by a cow-skull. "Or 're you a coward? You look like a coward, little boy, look at you shakin'."

I scrambled away, sweeping my hand along the ground in an arc until I found my fallen sword and grasped it. I pushed myself to my feet and took several steps back. The barbarian only laughed a deep, hearty chuckle and spun his axe once. "What're you gonna do?" he asked. "You gonna fight me, boy?"

Was I? I didn't have any other choice, did I? He'd cut off my option of escape, and behind me was more open space and a cluster of his allies. But how did I fight someone who was at least twice my size and had a bladed weapon that his huge muscles could put a lot of force behind?

I had to play lame.

I grabbed the hilt of this sword with one hand and scabbard with the other. It came loose with a click, and I drew this sword for the first time since waking up. The pleasant ring it let out when freed was the final note to clue me in to the reality of this situation. I straightened my back, planted my feet, and raised my weapon in what could only be called a mockery of both the Shaolin Dao and the Ko Gasumi styles of sword fighting.

"Oho, yessir, you are." The bull of a man grabbed the long handle of his axe with both hands and flashed me one more grin, like that of a butcher before he cuts down his next meal. But this meal wouldn't serve itself up to him on a platter. No, if this meal had to go, it would go kicking, screaming, clawing, and biting. "Come then. I'm going to have fun with you."

He roared, heaving his axe over his head for a wide swing. As telegraphed as it was, I was given ample opportunity to move aside. I waited until the last second, then sidestepped the strike with a nimbleness that surprised me. I did a spin, lashing out with my blade and delivering a wide laceration from his naval to the small of his back. The swing had more recoil than I'd expected, however, and pulled me off balance. In the time it took me to recover, my opponent let out a growl. "You little shit," he snarled.

With one hand, he used his entire body weight to swing his axe in a wide horizontal arc. I dodged under it and took a series of short hops back to put more distance between us. He took a step forward and stumbled. His wound was gushing blood—a cut like that had to have hit an artery. I let the sight invigorate me.

I got a hit in. A good one, too. I was winning. Maybe I grinned, but it was wiped off my face when he shouted again. He stomped his foot. Both hands flew to his axe, and he raised it above his head.

I took too much time questioning.

Before I could react, he whipped the weapon forward. It soared toward me, giving me only enough time to twist my body. The axe scored a deep cut on my left shoulder and kept going past. Its force knocked me off my feet and the impact hit my sword loose. I made the mistake of crying out in pain, and the barbarian closed in. I realized I'd dropped my sword again.

As the distance separated us chipped away in slow-motion, I felt wound leather and hoped. My fingers wrapped around whatever it was and swung up just as the barbarian was on top of me. I would later thank whatever god dealt with luck in this world that it was my sword, that his weight carried him forward, and that his axe hit my weak arm. The tip pierced just above his collar bone, severed straight through his spine.

He collapsed on top of me. His bulk was suffocating, but I did not move. I was frozen. A moment of clarity made me close my eyes and stuff my arm in my mouth before the scream escaped.

I was stuck under a dead body. A dead body of a man that I'd killed in a world that was _supposed_ to be in a videogame. As hard as it was to breathe, my body found a way to hyperventilate. I was half-aware of his weight pressing the pommel of my sword into my sternum, but I could not move. My mind was desperately trying not to shut down from the shock.

First—first, first, first, I had to breathe. In, out. In, out. Slow, deep. Get this guy off of you. In, out.

I could only move my right arm. My left was drenched in liquid-hot pain. I let go of my sword and pushed my palm against his chest. I managed by some miracle to flip him onto his side and failed to resist the urge to take a deep breath.

In, out. In, out. Take your sword.

My sword. It was still buried in the soft-spot of his chest. I gulped. Right. Pull it out. Yank that shit. I planted my foot on his shoulder and bent down. His eyes were still open. I turned away, repressed the bile rising in my throat. "No," I said, my voice raw. I had to compartmentalize all this. Couldn't process it right now. Didn't have the time. "No, don't look him. Look at the sword. Focus on the sword."

I faced the sword again. I wound my good hand around its grip and, using whatever leverage I could manage on whatever it was stuck in, yanked it free. I nearly lost my balance, but recovered before I fell. Next, I would look for the scabbard I'd dropped. At least, that was the plan before another deep voice called out to me.

"Oi!" I spun around to see three more red-dressed people stalking toward me. None of them looked very happy. One had a pointy red hat, robes, and a book in his hand. The second looked like the guy I… the guy on the ground, an axe dragging along the ground. And the third was… unlike the others. He didn't have much in the way of bulk, but I could see muscled definition, and the way he carried his sword led me to believe he knew how to use it. Unlike me.. "Who d'you think you are?" the goat head-wearing man barked. "You think you c'n just kill one of our boys? You're gonna pay for that, little boy."

Focus on the sword.

I was in a bad way. My left arm was immobilized. Still, I spread my feet to shoulder width, got low, and got into as good a ready stance as I was able. To be honest, fighting that first barbarian took a lot out of me. I could barely hold my sword straight.

The barbarian, who stood in the middle, turned to his two cohorts and spoke in a voice too low to hear over the oncoming clamor that the rest of their gang was causing. I took this as my chance to make peace. Or at least, as best I could. Here I was, about to die. I had no chance of making it out of here alive. I was down an arm and outnumbered three-to-one against people who did this for a living. One of them looked to be a mage, if this really was Ylisse. Yeah, my ass was grass. Had to admit, this was not how I thought I would go down. There was still so much I wanted to do, books I wanted to write, people I wanted to meet. Yet this was it. My reckoning. My one-way ticket to the great beyond.

Tears I hadn't known were welling spilled down my cheeks. I may have been sobbing. I didn't want to die.

The three guys in front of me noticed and shared a laugh. The guy in the middle turned to the wizard-looking dude, said something about a wounded animal that needed to be put down. He stepped forward and flipped his book open. The pages moved by themselves. He grinned. His lips moved, but his words fell on deaf ears. I wasn't too keen at reading lips, either.

He pointed his hand my way. I went low in wait. I couldn't remember what his tome was. Either way, I would try and dodge. My end would not be swift as long as I still had a say in it.

For the second time today, my luck played a crucial factor. "Halt, scoundrel!" came the deep, authoritative voice of a much appreciated outside variable. The mage in front of me faltered, lowering his hand. All three looked that way, and I seized my opportunity. Through watery eyes, I flipped my sword in a reverse-grip and speared it toward the mage. It connected, the sharp point driving into his gut. His tome fell to the ground, and he soon followed, taking away their only ranged weaponry. It left me down a weapon, but now they would have to catch me. If anyone was playing lame here, it was me.

To my right, I heard hooves clattering on stones. It grew louder until a massive metal-clad horse collided with the barbarian. Its rider had a lance, as well, and ran it through the swordsman.

I cried again. The horse skidded to a stop, and I was bawling. I wiped the neverending rivers flowing from my eyes with gloved palms. "Oh my god." I was saved. I had never been this happy, this relieved. It felt like I got shot in the face with a serotonin gun. "Oh my god, thank you s-so much…"

The horse's rider dismounted and walked my way. "Lady Lissa," he called, "this man needs healing." _Lady Lissa?_ Oh, thank god, the Shepherds were here! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my g—"Sir." The knight placed his hand on my shoulder. His arm was heavy and cold, covered in a metal gauntlet. "Sir, you are safe now. You did well fighting these cur, but we can handle it from here."

"Thank you, thank you," I repeated. I wanted to fall against him and just crash. He held me at a respectable distance, though, until a young woman with blonde hair came to my side. I sniffled the entire time she treated me.

"Let him rest against your horse, Fred." She placed a gentle hand on my back and guided me to the towering steed. "Put your good arm out and hold on." I did. Fred—wait, that was Frederick? Oh, so it was. His mane of luxurious brown hair and stern face should have been unmistakable. I blamed it on the tears in my ey—

"Ow—ow, ow fffffuck, wha—" A different pain overtook the throb. It felt like the two separated pieces of skin were being yanked together by fishhooks and stitched through with razor wire. Inside, the torn muscles scratched beneath my skin. I had to white-knuckle Frederick's saddle to keep from itching at it.

"I told you it would hurt," the girl said. Had she? "Almost done."

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to keep from crying out again. The last few seconds were no less excruciating, but when the girl slapped my shoulder and said it was as good as new, there was no blood. No gouge. Only a dull throb. "Thank you," I said. My voice shook a little from the sobbing.

She smiled. "No problem."

"If you don't mind, milady," Frederick cut in, placing a hand on his horse's saddle. "Milord is still in the fray and I would like to be of assistance." I let go and took a step back. He swung his leg over and mounted his steed. "Keep watch over milady."

He took off, leaving the girl and I in the dust. My addled head struggled to put the pieces together. It only now dawned on me that this 'milady' was the girl who healed me, I hadn't seen Lissa yet, and Frederick's two ladies were Emmeryn and Lissa.

"Ah!" I spun on my heel to face her and bowed my head. "I apologize for my rudeness, milady. I meant no disrespect, I didn't realize it was you. Please for—"

"I'm all for a little praise," she said, "but now isn't the time. There is still fighting going on, and my brother may need healing."

"Uh, right." I shook the cloudiness from my brain. _Stupid idiot, use your head_. "Stay behind me, then." I jogged over to the mage I felled and seized my sword. I made the futile gesture of wiping the blood-covered blade off on his red robes. Beside him, Frederick had cut down the third bandit, leaving three crimson-clad bodies in a circle.

Closer to the chapel, Frederick was leading the charge. He was dueling with a nimble swordsman while a second mage kept him on his toes. I would have been worried, and put more spring in my step to reach him had it not been for the pair of sword-wielding wargods beside him. In the time it had taken for me to get healed, a blue-haired man in silver attire—good god, it's lord Chrom—and a snow-haired woman in dark robes sped to Frederick's aid. The two of them, the latter of whom rotated between sword swings and bolts of lightning, tagged in and out. Chrom would swing his golden blade, then the woman—if I hadn't known any better, I'd have said it was Robin—stepped in and finished them off with a well-placed slash or spell. Anxiety made my focus hazy, but if this took place when I thought it did, then their efficiency as a team was mortifying for the short time they'd known each other.

"Who is that woman?" I asked Lissa as we made our moderately-paced way over.

"Her name's Robin," the princess informed. _Ah, so it is_. "We just met her, but she seems to fit right in."

 _I'll say_. I was about to speak when the mage that had been troubling Frederick scored a hit, a blade of wind gashing into the knight's side. He let out a loud groan, blocked a blow from the swordsman he'd been fighting, parried the blade to the ground, disarmed the fool, then launched his Silver Lance at the mage with the precision of a sniper. On God, the lance pinned the mage to the stone pillar behind him. Then the knight delivered a steel-covered elbow to the swordsman's face, picked up the dropped sword, and ran him through with it.

"Frederick!" Lissa cried, pushing past me to run to the knight. I failed to stop her and had to give chase. The Great Knight looked our way and a brief look of panic flashed across his face before stoicism returned. Lissa readied her staff to heal him.

I was a bit faster, and caught up despite my delay with my sword ready to guard them as Lissa raised her staff. "You were to watch over her, swordsman," Frederick said. I mumbled an apology and turned my back.

"Go easy on him," Lissa said. I caught the green glow out of the corner of my eye. Frederick grunted, but reacted better than I did. "He's still rattled." I did not disagree. I also did not let myself dwell on the thought. Doing that would mean… _No, keep the thoughts buried._ I cleared my throat and steadied myself. Coming this way were Robin and Chrom, both finished with clearing the other half of the plaza.

Everything was clear. I lowered my sword and sighed.

"Frederick!" Chrom called. His gaze was levelled at me, wary and suspicious. My body went rigid. Robin sensed his concern. Her tome was flipped open, her sword held in the other hand.

"Worry not, milord." Frederick rolled his shoulder, repaired and ready for more. "This young man is not a threat."

"Then everything's clear," the prince said. Robin stared at me and lowered her sword. Her tome remained open. Chrom sheathed Falchion; the blade let out a hum more pleasant than any tune as it returned to its scabbard. He turned to me. "All of the bandits in this area have been taken care of. Do you know if they spread anywhere else?"

"Um." I spun around. Which way had I come from? "There aren't any that way," I said after a moment's thought. "That's where I came from. But I don't know if they got anywhere else."

"I suspect not," Robin said. Her brown eyes never left mine. "None of these look well-equipped." She kicked at the swordsman Frederick had impaled. The sword through his gut was in poor condition, with rust coloring the blade and the leather-wrap around the hilt coming undone. "I don't think a larger band would attack with such faulty equipment."

"I'm inclined to agree," Chrom said, crossing his arms. The Brand of the Exalt was stuck out on his shoulder. "We should notify everyone we can that the coast is clear. Then we can be on our way." I frowned. _On our way_. A number of things felt wrong about that, not least of all this feeling in my gut that we were forgetting something. "What's your name, by the way?"

"Huh?" I snapped out of my thoughts with wide eyes. "What?"

"Your name," the prince said. "What is it?"

"Oh, I'm—"

An explosion shuddered the ground. Fire erupted from the cathedral, spilling out the windows and kicking the glass out with a shrill ring. Smoke billowed from the white-washed stone walls. The double doors at its base flew open and outstepped a crew of three or four more bandits, one of whom carried a hefty, red-handled axe over his shoulder while the rest hauled bags full of goods. He let out a deep laugh, then stopped short when he saw us and none of his men occupying the square. His expression changed from one of jubilation to shock and, finally, outrage.

"What the fuck happened out here?" he boomed, lowering his axe and dropping the bag he'd been carrying to the ground. It let out a brassy ring at the impact. He stepped forward. "Why're all o' my men layin' in their own blood? What'd you do!"

I trembled at his fury, at his animalistic growl. Chrom spun around, whipping Falchion out of its sheathe with the same terrific ring as before. Frederick yanked free the sword he'd used to impale the last swordsman. Robin turned and outstretched her free hand. Sparks crackled around her gloved fingers.

"You fuckin' blue bloods," the bandit snarled. "GET 'EM, BOYS!" His three allies—two swordsman and a third mage—ran around him with their weapons ready.

The three Shepherds sped forward. I stayed behind with Lissa at first, then shared a glance with her and took off with a reluctant first step.

Robin took the first shot; pivoting on one foot, she spun and fire a ball of thunder at the enemy mage. He launched a series of wind-blades in response. The spells neutralized one another. In the clash, Chrom and Frederick closed the distance. Frederick needed to get closer; without his lance, his reach was limited. Chrom leapt into his first strike.

He landed with a shout. One of the swordsmen intercepted him and guarded against the heavy blow. The two clashed, and my view was blocked by Frederick afterward. They seemed to be fine. I made my way to Robin. She and the enemy mage were still trading spells, neither landing a hit. Their spells collided in the air. Sparks rained down around them, wind billowing their cloaks and ruffling both their hair and mine.

"Dammit," Robin cursed, slinging another thunderbolt. She cast a glance my way when I approached, but said nothing. Her second glance, I met her eyes. The enemy mage looked at me, too. His arm drew back, a golden circle phased into existence around him.

His wind-blades launched my way instead of Robin's. I faltered at the imposing magic. Healing magic hurt. That was meant to help. What would offensive magic feel like? I imagined the blades, cold and sharp, cutting into me, shredding my skin and my clothes and ripping my low-res body to clean slices of—

The razor-blades of green energy whipped toward me, gliding along the tiled streets but they never arrived. A ball of lightning exploded into it, blasting the wind to the side and clearing the path. "Go!" Robin's voice cut through my storm clouds.

"My turn!" I pushed off with more speed than I figured I could muster. The red-wizard hat wearing mage suffered a panicked look, his eyes going wide and teeth clenching as he drew his hand back a last time. But, it did not make a difference. I was too close. I counted the steps. I drew my sword back. 2 steps away. The mage's arm started forward. I swung.

He shrieked as the iron blade pierced his gut. As pretty as those robes were, they offered no protection from cold, sharp metal. No resistance. No slowing. The sword went straight through. At my side, his spell fired off, wind not cutting me, but violently rippling my clothes and hair.

His arm went limp. His weight fell against me. I pushed him off and pulled my sword free. He crumpled to the ground, blood wetting the corners of his lips and his hands hovering over the hole I'd put in him.

"Nice work!" Robin said, running up. She stopped short and spun 90 degrees with a leer. I followed her gaze to where Chrom's guard was broken. The enemy had knocked Falchion from his grip and was moving to finish the job.

Sparks crackled in Robin's hand. I swiveled and tried to go toward him. Chrom moved his free hand in to block what he could.

Frederick, once again, launched his weapon with deadeye precision. It didn't kill the swordsman, but his weapon was knocked away, and the prince threw the first punch.

Robin scowled, then shouted, "Chrom!"

The prince grabbed the bandit by his lapels and spun him around, back to Robin. The tactician swung her arm and sent a charge of Thunder into the guy. He went down, spasming as the electricity ran its course.

"Godsdammit," the bandit with the scary axe barked. He lowered said axe and charged with a ferocious roar. The skull atop his head added to his barbaric appearance.

Chrom dusted himself off. "Caution, milord," Frederick said.

"Right," the blue-haired man said, throwing him one of the several swords scattered about in order to meet the charging leader. Robin drew her blade and followed. Chrom and I shared a look before he plucked Falchion from the dirt. His course of action followed a similar path. I fell to peer pressure.

The barbarian—he could have been called no less—was a tower of a man. If not for his slouch, I estimated he would have stood even to Frederick while the latter was atop his horse. His life as a bandit had served him well, building a considerable swell of muscle, as well. But, he was decked in cloth and the occasional patch of leather. Neither gave much resistance to the combined might of four swords and the sting of lightning.

He swung his axe in a wide arc at our approach. I went low, Chrom jumped high, Frederick swept around the side, and Robin fired a preemptive Thunder.

The mountain of barbarism stumbled from the spell. I recovered from my roll and slashed one of his knees while Fred got the other in time for Chrom to land the sword version of a superman punch to the chest. Falchion cut clean, speared in and brought the bandit to the ground. He shouted out, cursed, but to his credit did not cry or scream. The prince knelt atop him and pulled Falchion free, ready to deliver a finishing blow.

"Dammit, fuck!" the bandit spat. "I can't die yet! I'm Garrick! I'm strong! You're just sheep! I should have slaughtered y—"

Chrom stabbed him in the throat. Bone and all. Instant death.

"There," the prince said. He wiped the divine blade off and sheathed it. I stood up and winced. My shoulders were scraped up from the roll. I made a note for later not to do that again, unless I had shoulder pads. "That takes care of that."

"For real this time," Robin quipped with a tired smile. Chrom reciprocated, then cast it way as he turned to me, mouth open to speak.

At the last second, he changed his mind, and turned to his knight. "Frederick, spread the word that the bandits have been defeated."

"Yes, milord." As he reared up and sped off, Robin and I put away our weapons. Lissa started toward us after the knight passed her.

"You two," Chrom said, putting his hands on his waist, serious. His eyes were no longer hardened, however, so I was able to relax despite his tone. "You both fought for lives that were not your own." I tried not to wince. "You risked your own life in the process. You have my thanks." He bowed. I blinked. A prince was bowing to me. Regardless of circumstance, this was a powerful sense of validation. "This is a debt that I cannot repay. And I'd hate to ask for more, but I have a favor to ask." Lissa arrived at his side and smiled, her hands behind her back, clutching her staff. "See, I've gathered up a band of people like you who fight in the name of peace for this Halidom. We are few in number, but proud nonetheless. We call ourselves the Shepherds."

"'The Shepherds?'" Robin asked with a grin. "Like the kind that tend sheep?"

Lissa shouldered Chrom, and he chuckled. I smiled. "Exactly like the kind that tend sheep," the prince said. "It just so happens that our sheep are a country wide, and could not be in greater need of protecting. So what do you say? Before Frederick comes back, would the two of you like to join us in guarding our flock?" I shared a look with Robin. "Robin, we could use someone with your talents. Mages are hard to come by, strategists as skilled as you even more so." She flushed, averted her eyes. "And—" Chrom faltered when he turned to me. "I'm sorry, I don't believe I ever got your name."

"My name is Zach," I said, putting my hand out.

The prince shook it. His grip was firm, strong. "I'm Chrom. And this is my little sister, Lissa." The blonde waved. "Well, Zach? What do you think? Would you like to join my Shepherds?"

I wanted to. I did, but it felt wrong. My smile died. "I-I don't know," I stammered. "Are you sure you'd want me? I'm not really fit for combat, I almost died today. I think I'd probably just get in the way."

"We all have to start somewhere," he said with a shrug. "And I almost died, too, don't forget. It happens. It shouldn't, but it happens. That's combat. That's the risk."

"And you don't know anything about me!" I said. "You don't know where I'm from, who I am, or what I do. I could be a spy, or an assassin!"

"You aren't an assassin," he deadpanned. "I can see that much. As for where you're from, I don't care. It doesn't make a difference to me, because you saved Ylissean lives. That's what matters. That's what I'm looking for. What's your choice?"

"I…"

"If you don't want to join, just say so. I won't pressure you."

"It's not that!" I blurted. I was scared. The entire prospect was terrifying. Going with them would mean war. More of this, death and blood and fear. I didn't know if I could handle that. "I'm just…"

At the same time, where else was I going to go? I did not know how to get home. I did not know anyone here, or any _where_ here. I was lost and alone in a world far from my own. Going with them was my greatest chance of survival, as ironic as that sounded.

I closed my eyes, sighed, and mustered up all the resolve I could to say, "Alright. I'll do it. I'll come with you."

"That's the spirit," Chrom said, grinning. He clapped me on the shoulder and chuckled. "What about you, Robin? Do you want to come with us?"

The tactician laughed. "Do I even have a choice?" Chrom shook her hand, finalizing the deal.

"Yay!" LIssa cheered. "Another girl! I was scared we were going to get outnumbered!" Robin laughed again. Chrom chuckled. I managed a hum, but my battle-high was falling. The weight of today was beginning to press down.

Chrom must have thought I was still unsure. "Hey," he said. "We're all green when we start. But I see potential in you. With some work, you could be among the best swordfighters in Ylisse. I'll even train you myself, if you want."

"I'd appreciate that."

"And now that you mention it, where are you from?" He cocked his head and arched his eyebrows. "I know I said I didn't care, but that doesn't mean I'm not curious."

"I get it," I said. "I'm… I'm from Valm. Small town."

"I see. Well, welcome to Ylisse." He clapped my shoulder again. "And to the Shepherds. We're glad to have you." He walked off, then, headed to meet the incoming Frederick. "Just a shame this had to be our introduction."

I forced a smile. "Yeah." I barely made it through today. I fought three times, and almost died twice. I'd say it was a miracle that saved me, but it was plain dumb luck. When was that going to run out? When was the world going to be sick of saving me and let someone run me through? The weight of that fear was almost enough to make my legs give out.

No matter what Chrom said, I was not ready for combat. This world was going to break me.

 **Here we go, boys! The first revamped chapter to Fractured and Burned. This was a long time coming. I don't really know what to say here. This is not a reopening of the OC submissions or whatever. I just figured that this chapter was shittily written before and needed a redux. No cheap hook or anything like that. This is where we're at.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed. Gimme a review if you've made it this far and let me know what you thought. Tell me if this is finally a good chapter now instead of a lackluster, carbon copy SI prologue, eh?**

 **And, as a sort of stamp to show how new this is, y'all are getting' the NEW sign off. Trust me, this makes sense if you're caught up.**

 **The Oats have been harvested.**


	2. Chapter 1: Unwelcome Change

**Hey, disclaimer's in the first one.**

We set up camp in the middle of the woods. Frederick was tasked with hunting, while Robin and Chrom gathered firewood. That means that Lissa and I were left to watch over our things.

While we waited, I tried to wrap my mind around the recent occurrences. The first bombshell was my induction into Fire Emblem. I was having trouble processing this. It just didn't feel real. I mean, I KNEW that it was, but I didn't know how to feel about it. I couldn't see my friends or family, and it would be awful, but if I beat the game, I should be able to go back, right? Although, that wouldn't be for another two or three years, and I didn't even know if I'd want to go back at that point. I suppressed this worry. It's unhealthy, I know, but as of now, I didn't know what to do about it.

The second issue: I had killed two people. Both times the nausea had almost made me throw up. It was awful. I realized now that, looking back on the first kill, I could feel him go limp before I pulled my sword out. They probably had families. I mean, I knew that they were bandits but they were still people, and who was I to force them out of this world? Yes, they were criminals, but I was not the one to convict them. I am just some kid who found himself in a video game. I sigh loudly, startling Lissa. Again, this was something I was going to have to get help for. I didn't think I could deal with it on my own.

Luckily, the other three showed up soon. Chrom and Robin found enough wood for a large fire, while Frederick showed up carrying a fucking bear, like the man-beast that he is. Didn't know how he killed the bear, didn't know how he's carrying it, and I didn't want to. Robin and Lissa seemed just as surprised as I do, especially when the knight managed to fashion a spit strong enough to hold it, as well as start the fire underneath the beast. "Gods, you're a monster, Frederick," I muttered.

We sat around the fire, Chrom and Lissa bickering about something while Frederick tended to the bear. I stared into the fire, listening to it crackle and pop. I admit, I'd wanted to try bear for a while, so this was a prime opportunity. It smelled great, and I couldn't wait. Robin was sitting next to me, and I suspect she was looking forward to the bear more than I was, what with the manic look in her eye as she stared greedily at the animal. "Hungry, are we?" I say with a smile.

The tactician blinks and struggles to regain her composure, clearing her throat. "Um, yes, I… It smells really good." As fast as her composure came, it leaves again, and Robin was practically drooling as she waited for the food to be done.

I grinned and shook my head. It was hard to believe that this is the same woman who would lead us against Plegia, then Valm, and later the Fell Dragon. I had to remind myself that that isn't for a long time yet, and she was a human, as well. When the time came, I trusted in her to make the right decision.

I groaned and tentatively rubbed my aching gut. I ate too much bear. Chrom was in a similar plight as I, while Lissa and Frederick had yet to take a sizeable bite. Meanwhile, Robin was practically inhaling the food. "How the hell can you still eat?" I asked, astounded that the tactician could put it all away.

"Mmmfmmmph uhmmm phmmm!" Nothing audible came out of her mouth as she tried to speak through a mouthful of bear.

I ignored her food gibberish. "Honestly, you're so small but you can eat as much as three of me! Explain, tactician."

"Mmmph. Mmmhmm phmm hmm." Whatever she said must have been clever, because she looked pretty pleased with herself for saying it. I just scoffed and shook my head at her. Chrom looked on with a small smile while Lissa scowled at her food. Frederick merely stood over Lissa, pestering her to eat the food while she frowned.

"Quite a group I've found," I said, barely loud enough for myself to hear. I lay down on my back and sighed, staring up into the night sky. The stars looked the same, but I'm no astrologist. Just about any starry sky would look the same to me.

But soon, this peaceful night sky would be torn open, wouldn't it? Walking corpses would fall from the eye in the sky, followed by the beloved future princess. Ugh, you know, one reason I was glad that Robin is a woman is that she couldn't canonically pair with Lucina. I am sick of seeing Robin x Lucina, so that was a relief.

Another question popped into my mind. Were we on Classic? I assumed, just in case. Didn't want to go dying early. Say, what difficulty were we on? I mean, it felt like that was easier than it should have been earlier, but Garrick had also put up a hell of a better fight than I ever remembered him doing. I hoped I wasn't on Lunatic. Otherwise, I hoped Robin could put that beautiful brain of hers to work.

I looked back at her. She was out, hand on her chest and white hair splayed out, her chest rising and falling slowly with her breathes. Sometime during my little monologue, the white haired tactician passed out, and I found my eyes lingering longer than they should have. Lissa was out too, I saw, and Chrom seemed to be dozing. Frederick, however, was vigilant. The knight was staring into the fire with the slightest smile. Huh, you know, I forgot he was obsessed with fire.

I didn't want to go to sleep. I knew that I would be woken up in a few hours, and then I would just be more tired than I was at the moment. My body, however, thought that sleep sounded grand. My eyes slowly closed, and I found myself unwilling to fight it. _Maybe sleep isn't so bad_ , I decided, drifting into a dreamless nap.

It sounded like a combination of thunder and an explosion. My eyes snapped open and I bolted upright. Sure as hell, the giant sky-ball was puking up Risen and the forest was melting. Chrom and Lissa were missing, too.

Frederick was on me before I could process it. "Where are milord and milady?" he asked, voice dark and threatening as he shook me by my shoulders.

I shrugged his hands off of me. "Your guess is as good as mine," I answered, pushing him away. "Get looking, Mr. Knight. I'll wake Robin." He was hesitant, but nodded and mounted his horse, running ahead. I looked at the tactician. Somehow, she had managed to sleep through the sound of the ground breaking. "Robin, wake up!" I yelled, shaking her vigorously. She awakened with a gasp, eyes wide and panicked.

Robin looked around, taking in the situation. "What's happening? Where is everybody?"

"Frederick ran off to find Chrom and Lissa. Now come on, we need to catch up. I think they might be in trouble." The tactician nodded and I pulled her to her feet.

"Any idea where they went?" She asked, grabbing her tome from the ground next to her.

"No, but Frederick ran this way." We both ran the same direction as the knight. Hopefully, he had gone a fairly straight path and had already found the siblings. The fire had yet to spread to the trees near us, so it was all still dark. I could see little more than the glow of the flames ahead. "Robin, are you still there?" I felt a hand grasp my wrist, and almost panicked before the tactician spoke.

"Yes, I'm still with you."

Gods, it was still so loud. Why had the earth not stopped breaking yet? Maybe the cinematic was still going on. Frederick seemed to have torn through a portion of forest in his desperation, which, I can't say I minded. Even without the trail, it would have been easy to find our way, but the trampled plants made traversal easier. I heard a rustle behind us, and whirled around to see a purple-fleshed fighter about to swing his axe at Robin.

"Robin, watch out!" I shouted, catching the Risen's axe blade with my sword. Damn, thank God I was quick on the draw. That had been too close. I kicked the monster away and gave it a quick slice across the stomach. The cut was deep enough to open up his guts, and his entrails spilled out a little, but the Risen was unfazed, coming at us again. A bright light flashed next to me before the zombie was hit with Thunder.

"That's the second time you've saved me," Robin said. I smiled and dismissed it with a wave. "What was that thing?"

"I don't know," I lied. "But I think there are more of them. Let's go."

Robin nodded and we ran into a burning area. This place looked like the hardest hit, with cracks in the ground leaking lava and fire spreading fast. The trees were less sparse, thankfully. I recognized this area when I saw a couple of shabby stone-walled buildings. This must have been where the battle in-game took place. Some more Risen were shambling from the other sides of the field, which is covered in lava and fissures. It looked like A LOT more than in the game which, while making more sense, was significantly more worrying. I looked around, seeing Chrom standing protectively by Lissa and Frederick running up to them. "Look, it's Chrom." I pointed to the pair and we ran up to them, getting there just after Frederick. "Chrom!" I called, waving to him.

"Milord! Milady! Are you hurt?" Frederick fussed, dismounting his horse.

"Frederick! Robin! Zach!" Lissa let out a relieved sigh. _Good to see you care, Princess_. I grinned, but hid it due to the gravity of the situation.

"Are such horrific creatures commonplace in these lands?" Robin asked.

"They're not from Ylisse, I promise you that." Chrom was eyeing them cautiously, Falchion drawn.

"No one is injured, then?" Frederick asked, visibly eased. "Thank the gods…"

"Thank the masked man who saved me!" Lissa interjected. "If it wasn't for him, I'd be…Wait, where did he go?" She whirled her head back and forth, searching for Lucina.

"Don't worry about that now, Lissa," I said. "We have more important matters at hand." Frederick nodded, and it seemed like I finally gained some respect from him. All of us moved closer to the enemies, taking cover in some of the trees around us.

"Are those…"

"Abandoned forts, yes," Frederick whispered.

Robin nodded. "Then we should take shelter in them when we can. We can funnel them through the door, one at a time. It will make dealing with these…things easier." Robin ordered Chrom, Lissa and Frederick to hide in one of the forts, while she and I take cover in the other. Running into the fort, I saw that some of the Risen take notice of us and pick up the pace.

When we got inside, I saw why the fort was abandoned. It had no ceiling, for one, and the walls were full of holes. Not ideal for a military outpost, but it would do for now. "They saw us," I said, placing my back to the wall next to the door.

"Good," Robin said, "That's what I was counting on." She stood a few yards away from the door, tome open and hand outstretched. I heard a yell, though it sounded more like a strangled roar. The Risen were coming closer. I took my place next to Robin and leveled my sword with my eye. Ko Gasumi, anyone? The first Risen took me by surprise, charging in with his axe raised.

Robin zapped him with Thunder, and I lunged in for the kill. My sword pierced through the fighter's chest, and he dissolved into purple smoke. The scent of rotten flesh assailed my nose when I inhaled the smoke, and I recoiled, gagging. "Fuck, that's disgusting."

"Be ready," Robin said, and I backed up, raising my sword again.

"Do yourself a favor," I said, "and don't breathe in the smoke."

The tactician nodded with a small smile, before returning to her stoic gaze toward the doorway. Two Risen, one fighter and one that looked like a mercenary tried to run in at the same time, getting stuck on one another. Behind them, I could see more of the undead trying to pile in. Robin shot the fighter with Thunder, pushing him back enough for the merc to squeeze through. He charged and swung blindly, almost hitting Robin. She managed to step out of the way, only her cloak getting nicked. She quickly shot him and I finished him off with a slash, remembering to not inhale until the smoke dissipated. The rest of the Risen outside began to funnel in, and Robin's plan worked perfectly.

I hacked and slashed as they enter, and Robin finished them off. We worked in tandem for ages, sweat soaking me. Other than the fatigue, we were undeterred. That is, until something struck my shoulder. "Ah, Fuck," I cursed, looking to see an arrow sticking out of my shoulder. I forgot they had archers! "Cover me," I shouted, and Robin doubled up on the Thunder. I could tell that it was wearing on her. Her breathing was laboured, and I could see the sweat glistening on her face.

I had to be quick. Luckily, the arrow went all the way through. I broke off the feathered end, but I knew that I shouldn't remove it until Lissa could heal me. I had trouble seeing, but the occasional flash from Thunder gave me enough light to see that it wasn't bleeding too badly right now. I could keep fighting. I waited for another Risen to enter, sprinting and slamming him into the wall. I finished him with a stab before hopping out of the doorway. I heard something whistling and lookup to see a volley of arrows falling at us. I thought they all missed, but then Robin cried out. I looked to see an arrow buried in her thigh. "Fuck." We had to get out of this fort. It had lost its advantage now that the archers found us. "Push through!" I shouted. "We need to find a way out."

"Right. Keep them busy for a second." Robin struggled to stand up straight, closing her eyes and holding both her tome and hand out in front of her. Whatever she was doing, she had to hurry.

With a growl, I moved in front of the door. Thank god—er, the gods—for the myrmidon's inherent speed. I cut through the Risen, slicing them apart before they can counterattack. When I failed to kill one, I was quick enough to avoid it or let it glide off of my sword. I heard Robin shout, "MOVE," and looked back to her. "Here's how it's done!" she said, before spinning in a circle and swinging her hand. I recognized the critical quote and jumped out of the way. A crackling ball of electricity flew from her hand and exploded, knocking all of the Risen away from the door, leaving the majority dead.

"Let's go," the tactician said, limping towards the door. I finished off the remaining Risen, and then offered Robin assistance. "Thanks," she said, throwing her arm over my shoulder. Sully and Virion were here. Sully was riding around, spearing the walking dead as she zoomed past, the archer riding with her and launching arrows at distant foes. I didn't see the archers anywhere, so those two must have killed them off. I looked to the other fort and saw Chrom executing a crippled Risen. Lissa was riding atop Frederick's horse while the knight jammed his lance through two Risen at once.

"It seems like they fared better than we did," I said, smirking. Robin gave a small laugh.

"Good," she said, struggling to keep her breathing steady. "I was worried about them. I suppose I should have worried about us a little more, huh?"

"It's fine," I said. This battle isn't over yet, though. More Risen were clambering toward us, and I thought I saw the leader among them, wielding his hand axe. One of them was dragging a hammer, too. I should have told Robin to keep Frederick away from—

The tactician stumbled, but I caught her before she hit the ground. "Robin!" She didn't respond, and I tensed up. I placed my ear next to her mouth. Soft breathing tickled my ear and I pulled away. I thought she just passed out. I shifted my grip on her and lifted her up, carrying her. "Chrom!" The prince heard me and ran our way.

"What happened?" he asked.

"She passed out. I think using too much magic really drained on her. The arrow in her leg can't be helping," I said, nodding toward the wound.

Chrom frowned, obviously troubled by this. There was another emotion on his face that I couldn't read, and he turned away. "Let's get her to Lissa." Good idea, princey. Chrom called to his sister and Frederick, who rode toward us. Lissa hopped off of the horse and jogged over to me. Chrom climbed onto the horse and rode toward the remaining foes with Frederick.

"Stay away from that hammer, Fred!" I warned, and the knight raised a hand in acknowledgement. Lissa asked me the same question that Chrom did as I set Robin on the ground, and I gave the same answer.

Lissa nodded. "I need to get this arrow out," she said, tentatively touching around the wound. Her saying that reminded me of my own arrow wound. I touched my arm, wincing when I hit the arrow. The princess twisted the arrow slightly, and then nodded, before pulling it out quickly. Blood spurted and I looked away. Lissa snagged her staff and held it to the wound. A light green glow emanated from the jeweled head and my curiosity gets the better of me as I watched the skin around the wound knitted itself back together. I frowned and looked away once again. "You're next," she said standing up and dusting herself off.

"Do you want me to pull the arrow out?" I asked, and she nodded. I gripped the arrow, grit my teeth, and _puuuuuulled_ it out as quickly as I could. It came free and I dropped it, groaning.

"Now hold still," Lissa said and held her staff up. The glow came again, and I looked away from my own wound. I didn't like the look of the flesh coming together like that. When it actually happened, I grimaced. It almost hurt, but more than anything, it _itched_. You know when you have a cut or something? And it itches? Okay, think of that, and multiply it by like, I don't know, twelve to fifteen bug bites.

"Fuuuuuuuuck," I hissed, waiting for this sensation to end. Lissa giggled and put down her staff.

"All done. Now get back to fighting," the princess cheered and slapped my newly healed arm, notifying me that it was going to be sore. Also, that hurt. She's right, though, and I charged heroically (not really) into the fray once more. Frederick was soloing the Chief while Chrom dealt with the hammer wielder. Chrom was having no trouble, that much I could tell. The fighter had a huge wind up before his swing, so Chrom took the opportunity to do a spinning slash and decapitate his foe early. Frederick was having more trouble.

The Risen Chief wouldn't let him get a hit in, hooking away Fred's lance and retaliating. I ran behind Frederick and shouted, "Tag me in!" I raised my hand and the knight humoured me, high-fiving me. The Chief was not entertained, throwing his axe at me as I ran at him. I rolled out of the way and drew my sword.

Now, I am not generally arrogant, but as a fighter, this guy was fucked against a myrmidon such as I. In comparison, this Risen moved like a snail. I slashed his leg, and he roared. He didn't seem fazed by the injury, so I slashed again, this time completely cleaving his arm off. The appendage turned to smoke before it hit the ground, and only seemed to serve in making the Risen furious. The chief roared again, slamming his axe down at me. I hopped out of the way and cleaved his weapon arm off, too. Defenseless, the corpse actually tried to bite me, lunging forward, jaws gaping. I met him with a stab to the throat, and, taking a page from Ezio's book, spun around and ripped my sword out in a reverse-grip.

I had to hide a smirk as I walked away, just imagining how badass I looked. _Hehe! Man, that felt cool to do._ Frederick nodded to me as he turned and rode back to Lissa, and I realized something. I had killed both of the first bosses. Maybe I should have let someone else take the kill next time. I didn't know how levels worked, or if there even were levels, but I imagined that this boss experience could have been useful to someone besides me.

Actually, where was everybody else? I looked to see them all talking to Lucin—er, Marth over by Lissa. Shit, I was missing dialogue. I ran up as "Marth" gave his cryptic message before departing.

"Huh? What's teetering where now?" I heard Lissa say as Miss Edgy sauntered off into the woods. "Hey, wait!"

"Not much conversation, is he?" Oh! Robin was awake.

"It appears his skills lie elsewhere. I wager we'll hear his name again…" You had no idea Frederick. "But for now," the knight continued, "I'm more concerned about the capital. We should make haste." With that, he hoisted Lissa onto his horse and started off, Chrom following behind. I helped Robin up off of the ground, happy to see her awake.

"Thank you," she said.

"No problem," I said, waving for her to get a move one. "Let's go. The others are getting ahead of us." The tactician nodded, but stumbled a little when she stepped forward. She caught herself, but I grabbed her anyway, flashing back to when she passed out earlier. "You good?"

"I'm fine," she said, looking up at me. I was just now noticing that she was quite a bit shorter than I was. "Let's go." She gave me a reassuring look, but I couldn't help but worry. The others were quite a ways ahead of us, however, so we headed out. We jogged to catch up to the others, who seemed to have not noticed our absence. As we walked, I stuck close to our tactician. If she fell again, I would be there to catch her.

I didn't know what happened if she dies, because I was fairly certain that I was not getting any resets, so I was going to make sure both she and Chrom stayed safe, even if that meant catching a fainting tactician every time she fell.

"What happened to me back there?" Robin was staring at her feet as she walked. "I remember we got out of the fort, but after that…I woke up next to Lissa."

"Oh," I said. "You passed out. I don't know why—I just figured you used too much magic. I carried you to Lissa, and she healed the two of us up. You know the rest."

She nodded, and thanked me. I thought I was beginning to sense a pattern. We walked in relative silence for the remainder of the trip. Every once in a while I casted a glance Robin's way to a make sure she was alright before looking forward again. She made it to Ylisstol without collapsing again, so my concern was in vain. I couldn't say I like being concerned about somebody. Too much stress.

The city was beautiful. The outskirts of the city weren't much of a spectacle, but the farther in you got, the nicer it became. The streets were clean, houses and buildings even cleaner. I couldn't name a particular style that the buildings were built in, but some structures included pillars similar to those in Roman architecture, and others had a charming plant growth along them, such as vines and flower bushes. The streets weren't crowded, but they weren't empty either. The people all seemed happy, talkative, and polite.

None of them seemed too shocked or surprised that the Prince and Princess were walking the streets, either. Although I supposed that it was a common deal with these two royals.

"Wow," I heard Robin gasp, and I smiled. "So this is Ylisstol, capital of Ylisse… I've never seen so many people!" How she knew that, I couldn't tell you.

"It appears the capital was spared the chaos we encountered, thank the gods," Frederick breathed. "I see no evidence of the great quake. It must've been limited to the forest." I didn't understand how absolutely nobody else in the world heard the earthquake of saw the lava spewing from the earth. What were the chances?

"That's a relief," Lissa said.

I opened my mouth to speak when some old dude shouted, "Look! The exalt has come to see us!" Our little troop looked where the man was pointing to see a group of guards marching through the streets, a woman in green robes standing amongst them. People parted for Emmeryn and her guards, but didn't attempt to contain their excitement.

"Wow," I said, "Pretty good timing, isn't it? It's almost like it's scripted." I earned a confused look from Chrom and Lissa, while Robin was enamored by the exalt's immaculacy. Frederick began informing Robin about the history of the first exalt, but I ignored him, instead watching as Emmeryn greeted her people with the kindness of a friend, waving and listening to their words. I had to admit, she was beautiful. No one could argue that fact. It was a shame she had to die.

"You said you were 'shepherds!" Robin exclaimed, snapping me back to the present. You know, I never understood how one as bright as Robin couldn't figure out that these two were royalty, what with people saying milord and milady.

"And so we are… in a manner of speaking." Chrom was grinning at the tactician, who was petrified at the moment. "We just tend to a LOT of sheep."

"C-Chrom… I mean, Prince Chrom!" Robin spluttered, breaking out of her stupor and bowing before the prince in the middle of the street, causing Lissa and I to laugh. "Sire! Forgive my dreadful manners!"

"Just Chrom is fine," he assured. "I've never been much for formalities."

"Now stand up," I said, pulling the mind-blown tactician to her feet. "You're causing a bigger scene than they are." Chrom chuckled and I thought I even saw Frederick crack a small smile.

Robin was mumbling as I pull her up. "The princess and princess… That explains why Frederick tolerates the teasing, isn't it? OH—"she smacked herself on the forehead. "That's why he calls you milord and milady—WHY AM I SO DENSE?" Hey, she figured it out on her own! Good job, Robin.

"It looks like Emm is returning to the palace," Chrom said. "Would you like to meet her?" He offered a smile so charming even I am stunned.

"Sounds like an honour," I said, and Robin agreed.

I was still grinning at Robin's outburst by the time we reached the palace, much to her chagrin. "It wasn't that funny," she scowled.

"Keep telling yourself that," I said.

The guards at the palace welcomed Chrom and Lissa, only letting Robin and I in when Chrom said it was fine. The front door led right to the main hall, at the end of which Emm sat with Phila at her side.

"Chrom! Lissa!" The exalt called when she sees us, getting up and walking up to them. "Welcome home." Emm gave her siblings a hug, warming my heart. "Oh, and good day, Frederick. How fared you all?"

"The bandits are taken care of," Chrom said.

"Wonderful," Emm said, sighing in relief. "And our people?" Her concern for her people was something you just didn't see in real life, so the kindness she exhibited was refreshing.

"Safe for now," Chrom answered, "but we still need to watch our borders. The brigands crossed from Plegia."

"Forgive me, milord," Phila interjected, stepping forward. "My Pegasus knights should have intercepted them."

Chrom dismissed the thought with a wave. "No, Phila. Your place is at my sister's side. Besides, we shouldn't have needed to worry about our borders."

"Besides," Lissa said with a smile, "we had plenty of help anyway."

"Ah." Emmeryn finally took notice of us. "You speak of your new companions here?"

Chrom nodded. "This," he placed a hand on Robin's shoulder, "is Robin. She and Zach here fought bravely alongside us. I have decided to make the two of them Shepherds."

Emm walked closer to us and took our hands in hers with a polite smile. Her hands were extraordinarily soft, I noticed, and returned her smile. "It sounds as though Ylisse owes you both a debt of gratitude."

"No, not at all," Robin and I said in sync.

"Forgive me, your Grace," Frederick said, stepping next to me, "but I must speak. Robin claims to have lost her memory, and Zach claims to have come from a town in Valm. These are just that, however: claims. There is no proof, and we cannot rule out the possibility of them being brigands themselves or even Plegian spies." When he said it like that, our stories did sound pretty suspicious, especially when the two of us were found armed and capable of combat. Thank the gods Chrom was so trusting.

"Yet you allowed them into the castle," Emmeryn said, and I was unable to read her voice. "Do these two of have your trust?"

"Yes," Chrom promised. "Both of them risked life and limb for our people. That is good enough for me."

Emm nodded, closing her eyes. "In that case, I can say that you have my faith, as well." I bowed and we both gave our thanks. "But thank you, Frederick, for your prudence. My siblings are blessed to have a guardian as tireless as you; I hope they remember mention that."

Frederick smiled. "They… they occasionally express something akin to gratitude." Suddenly, his smile disappeared and the knight adopted a more serious expression. "Phila," he said, turning to the pegasus knight. "I assume you've heard about the deathly creatures we encountered, yes?"

She nodded. "Yes, milord. They've been sighted all across Ylisse."

"Chrom," Emmeryn said, stealing the spotlight. "We are about to hold council. I was hoping you would join us."

"Of course," the lord said, following his sister and the two knights out of the room. As I watched them leave, I felt something grab my arm. I almost wrenched it away before seeing that it was Lissa.

"That's our cue," she said, tugging on both mine and Robin's arms. "C'mon, there is a place I want to show you guys."

 **AN: Wow, I know, I posted within a day. Don't get used to it. This chapter was prewritten. Is it weird that I am talking to what is likely half a dozen people as if it were several times that? Hopefully. Anyway, I realize that I left a few specifications out for the OC's, thanks to a certain reviewer.**

 **Your OC's can be from either Earth or the Fire Emblem Universe. I would appreciate a backstory if they are from the FE world, and I would appreciate it even more so if you guys gave me a description of the character, so as to make them easier to write and fulfill your vision of them.**

 **With that, I bid you farewell. All of the Oats have left the building.**


	3. Chapter 2: Shepherds

**Disclaimer stuff, yada: I'm poor, ain't own nothin'**

"Here we are," Lissa cheered, throwing her hands into the air as she pranced into the room. "The Shepherd's garrison! Go ahead, make yourselves at home."

Robin and I stepped into the garrison; I squinted through the drastic change in brightness. Inside, several figures that I recognized as the other Shepherds awaited. "Lissa, my treasure!" Maribelle rushed forward, pulling LIssa into a tight embrace. "Are you alright?" she asked, holding the princess to her for a moment longer. "I've been on pins and needles!"

"Oh, hey, Maribelle," Lissa said casually, patting the other girl on the back.

"'Oh, hey,' yourself," the noblewoman huffed. "I've sprouted 14 gray hairs fretting over you!"

"Yeah, and I've sprouted just as many for no good reason," I muttered under my breath, not expecting to be heard. "They can be pulled." Maribelle heard my remark, however, and shot a glare my way, which then served to earn me the attention of the other Shepherds. Heat rushed to my face, and I waved. "Hi."

"And who, exactly, are you?" Maribelle asked, stepping away from Lissa and folding her arms.

"This," Lissa said, skipping over to Robin and I, "is Zach. The woman in the cloak next to him is out new tactician, Robin!"

"Hello," the tactician greeted, offering a small wave of her own.

"I-I'm sorry to interrupt," a soft voice said, and I looked up to see Sumia fidgeting with a flower in her hands. "Where is the captain?" Her brow was furrowed, and if the way her fingers mercilessly tore away the flower's petals was any indication, she was anxiously awaiting Prince Oblivious's return.

"Yeah," the Vaike piped in, rolling his shoulder. "Where is Chrom? I'm going to hafta teach him a lesson for leaving the Teach behind!" To accentuate his point, he made that face where he sticks his tongue all the way out. You know the one, right?

Lissa and Maribelle scoffed. "So you're the Teach now," Lissa smirked. "I always thought that people were born lacking wits. Can it be taught?"

Vaike laughed, a hearty chuckle, before pointing a finger at the princess. "One lesson to learn, princess, is that you never doubt the Vaike." A second after the words left his mouth, his grin melted into a frown, and he said, "Wait, was that an insult?"

"Nothing escapes you, Vaike," I said, shaking my head, and his frown deepened.

"What about the captain?" Sumia questioned again, shuffling her feet and tempting fate with her clumsiness. I remembered that she did in fact fall on her face when Chrom walked in, so I stepped a little bit closer with discretion so as to not seem suspicious.

I tuned out the rest of the conversation, instead deciding to inspect the room we were in. A few boxes were scattered around, and aside from a bookshelf, it was otherwise empty. The stone walls let in no light, the only visibility from torches on the walls and the small windows. I always forgot how much we really took electricity for granted. I mean, rooms were never dark back home if we were in them, unless we were sleeping, of course.

With a pang, I remembered that "home" was very, very far away. I had to stop thinking about it, lest I put myself in a dark place. Shaking the thoughts from my head, I brought myself to attention just in time to see Chrom step through the door.

"Ah!" Sumia said, her face perking up at the sight of the prince. "Captain, you've returned! I was—I mean, we were so—" She took a single step forward, and her foot got caught on her other heel, flipping her forward. Luckily for her, I was ready, and stepped forward just as she fell and caught her before she hit the ground. Even with armour on, I noticed, she was surprisingly light. She opened her eyes after a moment, clearly surprised at not having smacked face-first into the floor. "Oh! Um, th-thank you!"

"Yeah, no problem," I said, helping her to her feet, smiling.

"Gods, Sumia," Chrom said, "was it those boots of yours again?"

"No! I mean,yes! I mean…" The Pegasus knight gave up with a sigh, sulking as a blush coloured her face.

Chrom cast one more look her way, before clearing his throat. "Alright," he said, "listen, everyone: in the morning, we'll be marching to Regna Ferox."

"Regna Ferox?" Robin asked, and I blinked. I'd honestly almost forgotten she was there with how quiet she'd been. "What's that?"

"It's a unified kingdom north of Ylisse," Sumia answered. "Supposedly, it's inhabited by barbarians."

Chrom shook his head. "Not barbarians, warriors," the prince corrected. "Warriors whose strength we will need to quell this new menace. Typically, the exalt would request aid such as this in person but, given recent events, we decided it would be best for my sister to stay with her people. So," he took a breath, "this task has been passed to us. However," he raised his hands, his eyes passing over each of us. "this mission is strictly voluntary, so if for any—"

"I volunteer," Lissa chirped, cutting her brother off.

"Me too," Vaike said. "For such a delicate mission, it would be stupid to not bring along the ol' Teach."

"I'll go as well," a voice next to me said, and I jumped. I looked to see Kellam standing next to me, a frown on his face that seemed to be directed at me. "What? I've been here the whole time!"

"I… I, um…."

"Yes, Sumia," Chrom said, turning to the stuttering knight. "What is it?"

"It's just that… I want to go along, but I'm not sure I'm ready for a proper mission yet," she said, looking at the ground. "I feel like I would just get in the way." Oh, gods, I connected with her so much right then. Sumia, you sweet soul.

"You could stay behind the main force," Chrom suggested. "That way, if a battle is met, you could just watch and learn? Some lessons, however, can only be learned on the battlefield, so it's your choice."

"W-well, if you think it wise, Captain."

"Just stay by me," Chrom said, with boundless charisma and a charming smile to match, "and you'll be fine." Sumia blushed, nodding fervently. I almost laughed. What? It was cute.

For the rest of the day, Lissa showed Robin and I around the garrison, the castle, and the city as a whole. The garrison was similarly set up as the first room that I saw. Grey, grey, grey. It was strangely empty in most rooms, as well. Only a few had any decoration, and the most I saw in one room, besides the dorms, anyway, was the armory, which had a collection of spears, swords, staves, and a tome or two. There were no axes or bows, which I initially found strange, but the more I thought about it, it made sense. I mean, there were no bowmen until now, and the only axe user in the Shepherds was Vaike, who I was sure kept his axe in his room.

The castle was magnificent, as expected. The bright white halls were decorated with lights and banners depicting the brand of Naga. Guards were patrolling, but they weren't very common. It wasn't a wonder that those assassins broke in later on. Maybe if I talked to Chrom, some additional guards could be posted and the entire thing could be avoided. Although, I didn't know if that would be beneficial. If I broke the story too much, I don't know if we would get to the end of the game and—no, it wasn't a game. Not for me anymore. Gods.

The castle was beautiful regardless. Portraits were hung upon the walls, each of them wearing a scarf-thingie like the one that Emmeryn had, but I noticed that they had different numbers on them. As we walked down the hall, each scarf-thingie had another number. Lissa noticed me staring at the portraits and said, "Those are the past exalts." That made sense. "Down at the end here is the last exalt, my father, and Emm." Now that I thought about it, they did bear a small resemblance to Chrom. At the end, I saw that Lissa wasn't kidding. A portrait of a man, almost identical visually to Chrom, sat.

"He looks… tired," I said, gazing into the portrait's eyes.

"Yeah." The princess gazed at the portrait for a moment, and then shook her head. "Let's get going." It was obvious that she didn't want to talk about it. Robin and I shared a glance, but nodded. Despite this, the princess was cheerful for the remainder of the tour.

Lastly, the city. Not much to say about it. Lissa showed us around the market, and I was tempted to buy a hat that was for sale, but remembered that I had no money. We returned to the garrison soon after, and Lissa showed the two of us to our rooms. It was… it was actually really nice to tour the city. I had always assumed Lissa was friendly, yes, but also mischievous. But she was so friendly today, it was like a ray of sunshine followed Robin and I. I smiled as she said goodnight, tempted to give her a hug. I settled for a wave, and collapsed onto the bed.

Well, cot. And collapsing onto it was a mistake. It was stiff, but a thousand times better than the ground I had slept on the night before, and warmer, too. I was thankful that I could sleep on the cot, and fell asleep almost instantly. It seemed I was exhausted, though a half-sleep followed by a battle really took it out of you.

I yawned as we marched north. We woke at dawn, and marched after a short breakfast. Thankfully, I was more used to waking up early, since my brother had me waking up before dawn back home, anyway. I was genuinely surprised that everyone else was so _awake_. Even Lissa. "Fuuuuuuuuuuuck," I yawned, stretching. I still wasn't used to walking with a sword swinging at my hip. It felt really cool to rest my hand on the pommel, though, and I found myself doing it frequently.

We had probably been walking for an hour or two when I noticed something weird about the sky to the east. I squinted, trying to figure out what was off. The air seemed to shimmer, before an eye like the one at the forest two nights ago split the sky. It opened, and a bundle of Risen fell from it like ragdolls. "Shit," I cursed. "Hey, there's Risen over here!" I pointed toward the eye, and everyone followed my finger. I run toward the Risen, who are standing up slowly, their arms limp at their sides and rusty weapons in hand. I heard the footsteps of the others behind me before being overtaken by Stahl, Sully, and Frederick, their weapons drawn.

I frowned as I got closer. I could see lance-users amongst the Risen, which made this much more difficult. There were some mercenaries there, too, their swords dragging on the ground as they roamed the field. When I saw the bridge, I recognized the field; this was where Chapter 2 took place.

The horse riders were waiting, keeping their distance from the undead threat. I stopped next to them. I presumed we were waiting for Robin to catch up, so I took the chance to further analyze our foes. There were quite a few soldiers with lances, which would be best to avoid. There were a couple barbarians nearby, so perhaps I should go for them immediately? At the far end was another large Risen, like the one in the forest, so I presumed that he was the Chief.

Robin and Chrom ran up, side by side, with Vaike, Virion, and Lissa trailing behind. "How many are there?" the tactician asked, tome in hand.

"Eh, maybe a dozen," I replied, drawing my sword. "Doesn't look as severe as the group in the forest."

She nodded, looking over the battlefield for a minute. "Alright, here is the plan: Chrom, you and Sully will pair up. Head to the right, and take care of the three, uh…"

"Risen," Chrom supplied.

"Risen." Robin paused, cocking her head. "Interesting. Frederick, you will stay with Lissa and ferry her around to whoever needs healing. Stahl, you and I will charge forward and take those forts. Virion will stay back, offering supportive fire. Zach, you and Vaike will take care of the l—Vaike where is your axe?"

The fighter's eyes widened, and he felt around his bare torso for his weapon. I sighed. I forgot about that. "I JUST had it!"

"It's alright," I said, patting him on the shoulder. "Stay back and keep looking. I'll take care of those Risen."

Robin considered it, holding her hand to her chin. "Virion, stick close to Zach." I was a little hurt that she thought I needed help, but that soldier was definitely going to give me trouble, so an archer like Ruffles would be appreciated. "Alright," she shouted. "Let's go!"

I cast a glance back at Vaike as I ran. He looked so disappointed, but scoured the ground for his missing axe. Returning my gaze forward, I set my sights on the mercenary straight ahead. I raised my blade—

And stabbed it through the zombie's chest. Before it could retaliate, I yanked the sword out and hopped away. It gripped its sword with both hands and, spewing that disgusting purple smoke from its mask, ran at me. I attempted to step to the side, but forgot that mercenaries where actually fairly fast. The Risen managed to slash my thigh, but I retaliated by decapitating it with a spinning slash. "Nnngh." That hurt like a bitch.

"Zach," came the fanciful voice of Virion, running up behind me with his bow drawn at the ground. "Do you require healing? I happen to have a—"

"No," I said, cutting him off before he could pull out the elixir he had and glancing at my wound. "It isn't as bad as it looks." Gods, but it hurt. "Just… keep covering fire." The noble archer stared for a moment, but nodded and readied his bow. A barbarian and a soldier still remained, the former already easing down the rocky hill it was standing on. I wouldn't give him a chance.

As soon as he hit the grass, I was there. My sword found a new sheathe in the barbarian's chest, but he didn't dissolve. He swung blindly, barely missing me before I hopped back again. I raised my sword and just as I brought it down, he scored a lucky hit along my stomach. He dissolved, and I hobbled back from the purple mist, but tripped and fell to the ground, clutching my stomach. It burned like hell, and the leg wound from earlier left my leg red and sticky. Gods, what are the chances that he would have hit me? It couldn't have been too high, right?

I heard Virion running up, and felt anger surge through me. Where was that damned covering fire, archer? The anger was surpassed by the pain, however, which flowed through me at a consistent pace. I looked up to see that he'd already pulled the elixir from his pocket. Before he could give it to me, however, a lance pierced the space between us.

The soldier had gotten close at some point. Virion hopped back and drew and arrow, firing it directly into the space where the Risen's heart would be. It recoiled ever so slightly, then yanked the arrow out. More mist poured from its mask, and it turned to face me. With a groan, I rolled out of the way. It pulled its lance back to stab again, and everything seemed to slow down.

Something inside me ignited, and I rushed forward, delivering a swift stab and following up immediately by slashing horizontally from where my sword punctured the Risen. I lowered my sword as it dissolved into mist, panting and clutching at my gut wound again. "Gods, what was that rush?" I muttered. That was…well, it felt like when I did that critical on the first boss, but different as well. Also, I didn't exclaim a kickass one-liner, so it couldn't have been a critical.

My thoughts were cut short as Virion ran up to me, pressing the blue flask of an elixir to my lips. I hesitated, thinking that something as rare as an elixir should be saved for later on, but then I realized that if I didn't drink it, I probably wouldn't see its eventual use, so I grabbed the drink and downed it. It burned as it went down, but I felt the wounds that I suffered begin to stitch themselves back together within seconds. It was different from the healing staff that Lissa used on me. It didn't itch so much, but it was still uncomfortable.

I was ready for combat once again, and I ran to where Robin, Stahl, and for some reason, Vaike, where standing. I noticed that the Teach had his axe in hand. I whipped my head around, looking for Miriel, since she must have been there, too. I didn't see the mage, but I wasn't too distraught. I never cared much for Miriel. I did see Chrom and Sully disposing of the soldier-Risen on their side, though, Frederick and Lissa next to them.

Robin was staring across the bridge, at the Risen meandering around over there. A pair of the undead—a barbarian and a soldier—were standing at the other end, seemingly waiting as they stared back us. Robin glanced at me when I walked up beside her. "What's the plan, tactician?" I asked, sheathing my sword.

"I'm thinking of pairing up Chrom and Vaike: their strength together should be enough to overpower those lance-users. Sully and Stahl will…pair up and use their lances to clear out the swordsmen. As for the axe-users," the tactician turned to me and smiled, "how about the two of us teach them a lesson?"

"Sounds good to me," I said, perhaps a little too cheerfully. I drew my sword, and Robin shouted the order to the other Shepherds. "Let's go." She nodded, and I sprinted at top speed toward the barbarian at the other end of the bridge. It didn't occur to me that Robin may not have been able to keep up. Regardless, I jumped into the air and landed on the barbarian, jamming my sword between his shoulder and his head, then tearing it free, making sure to deal as much damage then as I could. I was sure that he would dissolve, and back-stepped out of the lance-wielder's reach. Chrom and Vaike arrived in time, and Vaike shattered the Risen's lance, allowing Chrom to decapitate it, sending it to the abyss.

Robin shot me a glare. "Don't go that far ahead," she said, and I rubbed the back of my head.

"Sorry, I got ahead of myself," I said sheepishly. "I will stick closer to you from now on." The tactician nodded, stuffing her tome into her cloak and drawing a bronze sword. "How good are you with that thing?" I asked. She couldn't have been very proficient. I haven't seen her use it once.

"I'll be fine," she assured, waving me forward with the blade. "Now let's go. Sweep right with the cavaliers and deal with this axe, as well." I nodded, and we set off. Sully and Stahl met their target before we did, both of them delivering what would have normally been fatal blows on their own with their lances, and the mercenary dissolved before hitting the ground. To keep the cavaliers safe, Robin and I swung in. The barbarian was defenseless. I sliced low, taking out his legs and the tactician finished him off.

The cavaliers rode after the mercenary behind us, and I turned to watch as Vaike pummeled the soldier with his axe. Robin and I made our way over at a leisurely pace. Our final target—aside from the Chief—was clambering down the hill, just like the one from a few minutes ago. "Last one like this fucked up my stomach," I grumbled, rubbing where the wound had been.

I settled into my Ko Gasumi stance when the Risen made its way onto even ground. This one spewed the purple mist when it saw me, as well, and its eyes flashed red. Why did they always do that? It ran at us, and I deflected his blow. Robin danced in, cleaving off his arm. I spun in a circle and cleaved deep into his side, before swinging again to cut all the way through. "Are you going to show off for this big one, too?" Robin said, putting her sword away and pulling the tome from her coat.

"What do you mean?" I asked, rolling my shoulder.

"Each of the last two battles, you finished the final foe off either by yourself or in a spectacular move," the tactician explained. "Is that your plan again?"

I thought about it for a moment, but looking past her, I saw something that answered her question for me. "It doesn't seem like I've much of a choice." I pointed behind her, and she turned to see Chrom and Vaike fighting the Chief. The Chief was helpless, swinging wildly. Every strike would be blocked by Chrom, and Vaike would follow up with a devastating swing of his axe. The Chief stumbled back, and I saw Chrom lower his blade to the ground behind him.

The prince's shout was clear: "Your end has come!" Chrom leapt forward, bringing his sword down and cutting straight through the Risen Chief, leaving the two halves to dissolve as he slid Falchion back into its sheathe. Vaike dropped his axe and wiped an arm across his forehead as Robin and I, and the rest of the Shepherds, walked up. "Good fighting, Shepherds," the prince said when he saw us.

"What's the plan, Chrom?" Sully asked. "Are we gonna take a break or keep moving? I'm fine either way." She had a smear of blood and a tear in her sleeve, but no cut, which meant that Lissa healed her already.

"We should get moving," Chrom answered. "Every moment we take is a moment that Ylisse is in danger." The cavalier nodded. I looked at Lissa and saw that she was disappointed, but Frederick hoisted her back onto his horse. Within a minute or two, we were on the move once more.

It wasn't long before we stopped again, however. "Well, what do we have here?" Robin asked, pointing to the west.

"Hey," Lissa exclaimed before I could look, "is that what I think it is?" She ran toward where Robin was pointing, managing to startle what seemed to be a pegasus.

"It's a pegasus, alright," Chrom assured, walking forward, as well. I hear rapid footsteps and turn to see Sumia running closer. I'm surprised that she didn't fall on the way. "I think its hurt," the prince continued as I headed to the pegasus. I knew Sumia was going to fall here—I remembered that much—and I was going to try and catch her again. Can't let that pretty face hit the dirt. "Let's just have a look here…"

The pegasus panicked when the prince drew closer, rearing up and kicking at him, one of its wings flapping. Chrom almost fell back on his ass, holding his hand out. "WHOA! Down, girl! Easy there!"

"Captain, one moment!" Sumia said, and I stepped forward. Sure enough, the pegasus knight let out a cry as she tripped over her feet again. I held out my arms, and she fell right into them.

"That was close," I said, and she nodded.

"Thank you, again." Sumia stood and walked to the pegasus.

"Sumia, what are you doing?" Chrom cried, standing up. "Don't come any closer, this beast is mad!"

"Captain, it's okay," she smiled, before settling into a stern, serious face. "I know what I'm doing." She walked slowly up to the winged horsed, and it looked ready to rear up again, but the knight raised her hand at a snail's pace, before resting it on the pegasus's snout. She didn't move her hand any faster, just gently rubbing the beast's snout. "Shhh, it's okay, girl, I won't hurt you." The pegasus didn't kick her away, which—even though I knew it wouldn't—I was a little worried about. A faint smile grew on her face, and she was looked so happy.

"How did she calm it so quickly?" I heard Robin ask, stroking her chin.

"That's incredible, Sumia!" Lissa cheered, but didn't come closer.

"I've never seen anything like it," Chrom said, and I saw the blush spread to Sumia's face, even as she tried to hide it.

"Oh, it's… it's nothing. Really," she said, stroking the pegasus more boldly, now. "I just have a way with animals, I guess."

"I should say so!" Chrom exclaimed.

"You all go ahead," the knight said, waving us forward. "I will dress her wounds and catch up."

Chrom was hesitant, but I gave him a push. "She'll be fine, Chrom," I said. "Like you said, every moment we waste is one that Ylisse is in danger, so we need to move."

The prince nodded. "Right. Be safe, Sumia." The knight nodded, blushing and waving us off.

 **AN: Allllllright, that is Chapter 2 done. Sorry it got a bit "talky" at the end there, but there wasn't a whole lot I could do. This chapter has a lot of dialogue in it anyway. But more importantly, news on the OC's. So far, I have received 5 original characters. I am so grateful that you guys sent them in, and I am honestly excited to put them into this story. My mind has been buzzing all week.**

 **I do have some bad news on the subject, however, which is that these 5 characters are the only ones I will be presenting into the story as of now. If I bring too many into the story so early on, it will seem like I am just hurling them in. So, to remedy this problem, any character that you guys send in as of October 8, won't be put in the story until after Gangrel is defeated.**

 **With that out of the way, I have to thank you all for reading my story. It feels so good to see what people think. It's gratifying. That said, any criticism you have should be thrown at me like stones. I welcome it.**

 **Uploads will be erratic, as well. Really, whenever I get a chapter done, I will post it. This can be anywhere from a day to a week, so keep an eye out.**

 **Now I am done rambling and can wish you all farewell. All of the Oats have left the building.**


	4. Chapter 3: Warrior Realm

**I'm curious; is there a way that I can shift the default font of Microsoft word? I am tired of manually shifting it to Verdana every time I open a new document, and I refuse to use anything else.**

 **Also, do I have to do a disclaimer every chapter? Just to be safe…**

 **I don't own a thing, not even myself.**

You know, it was definitely cold on the road to Regna Ferox. I mean, I knew it would be, but I was expecting worse. It wasn't any worse than winter back in Minnesota, so I was pretty acclimated to it. The other Shepherds, however, were fairing much worse than I. Vaike especially. You would have thought the dumbass would have at least put on a shirt. But then, it was the Teach, and you really couldn't expect much forethought from him.

"Brrr!" Lissa shivered, clutching herself as her teeth chattered. "F-F-Frebberick! I'm f-f-freebing!"

"Stand beside my horse, milady," the knight-butler said. "She'll shelter you from the wind." The horse's tail flicked, and the princess hurried over to hide from the snowy wind. I didn't think it was snowing; the wind was just blowing around what had already fallen. The scenery was beautiful, despite the conditions. I had always held an appreciation for snowy landscapes. Undisturbed snow looked so peaceful, and instilled a sort of serenity in me. The snow-covered evergreens added to the aesthetic.

"So this is the fortress?" Robin asked, and I returned my eyes forward. Indeed, ahead of us lay the Longfort. Fire Emblem Awakening's Great Wall. It was massive, but not as tall as I'd thought. It was perhaps two or three stories high. Perhaps the wall was just that: a wall. The real barricade, I wagered, was the guards that sat atop it. This chapter wasn't very difficult in the game, but then, none of the others had been exceptionally difficult in the game either, yet they were no pieces of cake here. I had to keep my wits about me in the oncoming fight.

"Yes," Chrom said, answering the tactician's question. "This is the Longfort. It stretches along the entire Ylissean-Feroxi border." Despite the cold, the prince seemed to be as calm as ever, though I could see him shiver occasionally.

"The khans that rule Ferox have grown quite wary of foreigners," Frederick said, his eyes narrowed at the top of the stretching fortress. "Still, don't mistake a lack of hospitality for open hostility. This simply calls for a bit of diplomacy." Maybe I should tell them about the fight. Would it be avoided then? Though, if I did, they would probably think me crazy and ignore my warnings anyway. I kept my mouth shut and let the scripted dialogue continue.

"Negotiation's not my strong suit," Chrom admitted. "But, I will do my best. Remember, everyone," he called over the whistling wind, "your actions here reflect back upon Ylisse." Atop the fortress, I saw shapes moving about. The snow blowing around made it difficult to see exactly what was happening. At least, that was the case for me.

Frederick saw them, as well, and moved his hand to where his lance was strapped to his horse. "Trouble in the wind, milord: the Feroxi Guard are mobilizing."

"What?" Chrom squinted, peering at the fort. "Why?"

"Who can say?" said the knight. "But they look ready to let fly at a moment's notice. We'd best prepare for combat, just to be safe."

"What was that you said about not mistaking open lack of hospitality for hostility, Frederick?" I called, and received a glare from the knight.

"Halt," a deep, but feminine voice called from the wall. "Who goes there?" Someone with a head of short, blonde hair stood at the wall's edge wearing full armor. Gods, what was her name? Raimi?

"In the name of House Ylisse, I seek audience with the khans!" Chrom shouted up to the border guard.

"Not another step, my bold lad," she replied. "I've lancers at the ready!" She held her hand up, and a number of other armored soldiers stepped up, javelins held in a throwing position.

"Hold, milady!" Frederick yelled, holding a hand up in peace. "We are not your enemy! Exalt Emmeryn herself sent us to discuss matters of mutual interest."

Raimi shook her head. "My only interest is keeping you out of Regna Ferox, brigands!"

Frederick's eyes shot wide open, as did his mouth. "Brigand?" he repeated, dumbfounded. "Now see here, you—"

"Do you think you are the first so-called 'Ylisseans' to try and cross our border? I have the authority to fell such imposters where they stand." If the Shepherds didn't have their weapons drawn before, they certainly all did now.

"How _dare_ you?" Fredericked bellowed, his lance being held in a death grip. I could practically see his blood boiling, the outrage in his eyes. "You are in the prescence of Prince Chrom, the exalt's own blood!"

Raimi threw her head back in laughter. "Yes, indeed—and I am the queen of Valm! You do realize impersonating royalty is a capital offense, yes?" She placed a finger to her chin, as if in thought, then said, "Perhaps we should settle this the Feroxi way. If you claim to be the prince of Ylisse, then prove it to me on the battlefield."

Chrom's mouth was pressed into a firm line, his eyes narrowed. He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off, instead shouting, "Hold, milady! He bears the brand of the Exalt! Surely that is proof enough!"

Apparently, it was not proof enough. "Brands can be faked, swordsman," said the border guard. "Now I've had enough talking. Attack!" With diplomacy thrown out the window, Raimi stepped back from the ledge as the armored soldier drew back their arms, prepared to impale the prince. As they threw their spears, I heard a whistle coming from behind me. Before I can turn to see it, something white wizzes above us and at Chrom, who is lifted away just before the spears hit the ground. Frederick, Lissa, Robin, and I looked up to see a pegasus—the same one as before, if the bandages on its side were any indication—flying above us.

The armored soldiers made to throw another round of spears, but the pegasus dived out of the way, swooping low and slowing to a stop just before us. I was not surprised to see Sumia atop it, Chrom holding onto her. Chrom dismounted, and Sumia let out a relieved sigh. "Oh, Captain, I'm so relieved I made it in time."

"That goes double for me, Sumia!" Chrom said, almost chuckling. "And this it—this is the same pegasus from on the road, isn't it?"

Sumia nodded. "Oh, she's a sweetheart, isn't she? I mean, once you really get to know her…"

"Well, many thanks to you both," Chrom said.

Lissa giggled, pointing at the pegasus. "Look, I think it's blushing!" The pegasus was not, in fact blushing. Its rider, on the other hand, was as red as a strawberry. I smiled a little, but Frederick's stern voice brought my attention to the more prevalent situation.

"I think we had all best focus on the situation at hand!" said the knight, and everyone's faces grew serious.

"Chrom, they're coming," Robin announced, pointing to the gates east and west of us, which soldiers were pouring out of.

"Alright," growled the prince, drawing Falchion. "The Feroxi way it is."

He almost ran ahead, but I stopped him by grabbing his shoulder. "Chrom, are we to kill them?" My stomach turned at the thought. I didn't want to have to kill these soldiers, especially because they were just that—soldiers. They weren't brigands attacking the innocent, and I didn't want to kill them if I didn't have to, but I would if the situation required it.

Chrom shook his head. "Not if you can help it, but I would rather my men came back alive then theirs, so do what's necessary to survive." I nodded, and he charged forward, followed by Vaike, Frederick, Virion, and Sumia. I turned around, seeing that only Robin, Lissa, Stahl, and Sully remained. Miriel wasn't present, so I asked the tactician why.

"She volunteered to stay behind," Robin answered, peering over the field. "Something about avoiding the needless fatigue in favor of climate research or something." I nodded. "Anyway, there are more pressing matters at hand. Chrom is leading half of us right, probably to avoid the archers for Sumia. We should take the left side then. Lets' go!" With that, the five of us charged the opposite direction as Chrom. Sully and Stahl rode ahead, but only barely, and collided into the soldiers there like a train, not killing them, but certainly knocking them unconscious.

As we ran, I looked back, something tugging at the back of my mind. Aside from a black spot in the sky, which I was sure was just a bird, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. That is, until my eyes looked at the ground, and I saw another pair of footprints behind us. Blinking twice, I stopped. Robin noticed and stopped as well. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Kellam, is that you?" I called. The knight was following us. I didn't know how we missed him, or how nobody heard the shuffling of his plate armor.

"Yes," said the knight, waving. I could see him clearly now. I guessed that the game wasn't exaggerating his uh, stealth. It didn't make any sense to me, but I supposed I should have just rolled with it.

"Oh," Robin said, confused with Kellam just as I was. "Well, I guess it would be best if you headed with Chrom's group. It would even out our numbers." The knight nodded and clambered off, toward where the other Shepherds were clashing with a few Feroxi guards.

Robin and I moved toward out mark, as well, but it seemed that Sully and Stahl made quite the efficient team. Their horses knocked the guards down, and the cavaliers bonked them on the helmets. When we arrived, all of them were on the ground, knocked out. "Nice job, guys," I said. If I remembered correctly, one of them dropped a key to open the door up ahead. "Did either of you see a key on one of them?" Both cavaliers shook their heads and I sighed. Kneeling down next to one of them, I searched him for the key. "Look for one. I'm sure they didn't leave the gate unlocked for us." Mine didn't have it on him, but a moment later, Stahl popped up, shining key in hand.

"It was around his neck," the cavalier informed, mounting his horse. I looked over to where Chrom and Sumia were. I didn't see them, but looking higher, I saw Sumia's pegasus over the fort, past the door.

"Chrom and the others are already up there," I said, running to the door. "We should hurry. Stahl, throw me the keys." He rode closer and tossed them. I caught them, popping it into the keyhole and pushing the door open. Waiting inside was one of the armored knights, who stabbed his lance at my chest. I twisted to avoid the jab, but it still scraped my chest and I slipped past him.

"Bandit scum!" he shouted, whirling around and swinging the pole of his lance at me. I ducked under, raising my sword. I backed away, waiting for the others to get up here and hit him from behind. He stabbed at me again, and grazed my arm. Gods, lances were hard to avoid, and he wouldn't let me get close. It wouldn't matter if I got in close; there was no way my sword was piercing that armor.

Thankfully, I didn't have to. My hopes came true, as a blast of thunder hit the knight in the back, causing him to stumble forward, electricity arcing around his metal shell. Sully and Stahl rode in, clanging their weapons against him, driving him to the ground. Another shock and he was out of commission, but I was worried. The lance-users are messing me up, lately.

Ahead of us were more of the armored knights; the ones that tried to skewer Chrom. They readied their lances, this time poised to throw at us. My blood ran cold, and I saw the same fear streak across the others' faces.

Time slowed down, but I couldn't move. What could I do? Was this where I would die? Oh gods, this couldn't be. There was no way I could die here. It didn't feel real. Yet still…could I get out? Sluggish, as if moving through mud, I turned toward the door. If I could just reach…

In the sky, the black spot I saw minutes ago seemed much closer and… much larger. It was a bird, I noticed. It was flying toward us. Actually… it was here. And it was HUGE.

With a screech, a giant black hawk crashed into the line of spearmen, its wings pulling it back up before it hit the ground, leaving the knights either dead or unconscious. I couldn't tell. I was too busy staring at the GIANT HAWK. Leaving the thought that my life had almost ended in the back of my mind, I stumbled backward, falling on my ass. "What the hell is that?" An equally shocked look was on Robin's face.

No one knew what was going on—not even the remaining Feroxi, which included Raimi. Everybody was staring in awe at the hawk, which landed on the fort. Then it folded its wings and began to… shrink?

It shrunk down to the size of a human, its bird features disappearing, all except for its wings. When the transformation ended, a man in a black trench coat stood in the bird's place; he had long, messy blonde hair and black and brown wings sprouting from his back. I peered at the man, but the remaining Feroxi guards were more forward, running at him with their weapons raised. Robin ran forward, tome open. I followed, my feet moving themselves.

The tactician shot a charge of Thunder at the mercenary, stunning him while I ran to the further fighter, who was closing in on the winged-man. I wasn't going to kill him. I didn't need to. Fear etched itself on the winged-man's face, the fighter right next to him. I was faster, however, and got close enough to tackle the Feroxi to the ground, knocking the axe from his hand. I drove the pommel of my sword against his head, and then again to make sure he was really out cold. Heh, get it?

Panting, I stood up from the fighter and sheathed my sword. The bird-man was staring at me, and there was something unsettling about the way that his blue-green eyes seemed to shift between the two colors. "So," I said, returning his stare. I KNEW that he wasn't part of the Awakening cast. The question was, just who was this guy? "You mind telling me who you are?"

He opened his mouth, then his eyes shot open and he cried, "Behind you!"

I whirled around to see another fighter about to bring his axe down. I reacted quickly, almost instantly. My hand shot to my sword, and I swung it from my scabbard, knocking the fighter's axe away in the same motion. I pointed the tip of my sword to his throat, muttering, "Surrender." The fighter put his hand up and placed them behind his head, kneeling in front of me. I let out a sigh and lowered my sword to the ground. "I wish you idiots would have just believed us." I sheathed my sword and picked his axe off the ground before pitching it off the wall.

Raimi was the only one left. Frederick stood in front of her, and I felt pity for her. I knew that no one insulted Chrom's credibility in front of the knight and got off easy. "Hold," the knight said, raising her hand. "I wish to battle with the one you claim to be the prince." I could feel the anger radiating from Frederick, but he stepped away, and Chrom walked forward. All of the other Shepherds were watching, now, all of the guards laying on the ground.

"I am Chrom," said the prince, sheathing Falchion.

"So you say," Raimi narrowed her eyes and hefted her javelin. "Let the battle sound the truth of your words!" She ran at Chrom, levelling her javelin with his chest. I noticed something shining at Chrom's waist in that moment, something aside from Falchion. Then, almost as fast as I had earlier, Chrom drew a slim, regal sword from his waist, and stabbed at Raimi.

The knight's spear grazed Chrom's uncovered arm, the one with his brand, while his rapier pierced through her armor. Raimi gasped, dropping onto her knees as her spear clattered to the ground. "Then your claims were…were true…" She fell to the ground and Chrom sheathed the rapier.

"Lissa," he called, waving for his sister. "Come heal her, quickly." The princess ran toward the collapsed border guard, her healing staff prematurely emitting a dull glow. Whe she began to heal Raimi, I turned back to the bird-man, finding him just as indulged in the scene as I was.

"What's your name?"

"Dylan," he replied, holding out his hand. "I get the feeling that we're in a similar situation."

I shook it, then paused. "Wait, are you from Ear—" He clamped a hand over my mouth, cutting me off. He shook his head.

"We should talk later."

I nodded. Right. Talking about otherworldly things in the presence of the other Shepherds would have been a bad idea. I would have to find him later. If he really was from Earth, which was pretty much guaranteed now, it meant that I wasn't alone here. It also meant that whatever brought me here didn't settle for just me. Did that mean that there were even more people from Earth?

"Zach," Chrom called. "Who is this?" The prince walked closer, his blue eyes studious of Dylan. The prince seemed particularly fascinated with the newcomer's wings.

"This is Dylan," I said, stepping to the side and gesturing to him. "That giant bird that crashed into the javelin-line was him." Dylan held out his hand again and Chrom shook it.

"Nice to meet you," he said, his eyes shifting between colors again.

"Likewise," Chrom replied, releasing his hand. "I would like to speak with you inside, once everything has calmed down a bit more." With that, the prince walked back through the door Raimi was guarding. Vaike was holding said knight up, her face pale. While everyone else funneled inside, I waited to enter with Dylan. I was a more than a little excited to talk with this guy.

"Let's go," I said when everyone else had gone inside, and I followed him through the door.

 **AN: HERE IS OUR SECOND OC! Introducing, Dylan. I feel like his introduction may have been a bit rushed, but I don't see a way to improve it. He will have more premise in the next chapter, I promise.**

 **So, yeah. That's, what, a day between chapters? Yeah, I kinda got excited to bring Dylan into the story and wrote all day, whenever I had free time. It may be a little on the short side, as well, but that's fine, right? Quick update, short chapter. Don't expect this too often.**

 **Anyway, like always, leave a review if you'd like. Or don't. If you see anywhere I can improve, do not hesitate to tell me. Fuck me up with that good shit(help), man!**

 **All of the Oats have left the building.**


	5. Chapter 4: Team Meeting

**Y'all ready for an interlude? Well, you don't have a choice.**

 **I don't own a thing.**

"I apologize again, Prince Chrom," Raimi said, leading us through the Palace of the East Khan. She was much nicer now that she wasn't trying to put us to the lance. "If only I'd known…"

"It is fine, Raimi," Chrom said, though Frederick obviously thought differently. "I understand the skepticism." Five of us, excluding Raimi, were walking through the hall, which was made of grey stone and decorated plainly with the standard Feroxi banner of two wolves. Chrom, Lissa, Frederick, Robin and I followed the border guard, while all of the other Shepherds stayed behind, getting comfortable in their temporary living quarters.

Raimi said she was going to lead us to the khan, so Chrom decided to take the best of us to meet the warrior ruler. I was quite honored that he chose me. Raimi led us into a round, bright room. "My prince, please wait while I summon the khan." She then hurried away, her heavy armor clanging as she walked.

"The khan is away?" Robin asked, her hands stuck into the pockets of her cloak.

Chrom nodded, said, "Out training, I would wager." The tactician tilted her head slightly, so the prince continued. "The khans, as you may be able to tell from earlier, prefer battle to politics. Rather, battle _is_ their politics."

"A warrior ruler, eh?" As a mischievous smile stretched across Robin's face, I let my mind wander, my thoughts barely sticking to what was happening. Instead, I thought about the possibility of other people from Earth being in Ylisse, or even other places around the Awakening. I mean, before, I had thought that I was the only one, but now, _Dylan_ was here.

That meant I wasn't alone, per se. I was a little excited, yes, but I also started to wonder, why were we here? Were we brought here, and if so, for what reason? I didn't understand it at all. I needed to talk to Dylan.

"Damn them!" Chrom cursed and snapped my attention back to the moment, his temper flaring before dimming again. "I… Forgive me, Your Grace. That was…indelicately put."

Flavia scoffed, grinning. "Ha! Damn them and damn delicacy!" she said. "Here in Ferox, we appreciate plain speech." Ah, yes. We can curse like sailors here without repercussion. Sounds like my kind of place. Also, it's cold here, so there's that.

"In that case," Chrom said, "you should have a word with your damn border guards. We were almost skewered, earlier."

"I apologize, again, prince Chrom." Raimi was here, as well. She bowed at the prince, but Flavia waved her off.

The khan laughed again, throwing her head back. "I like you already, Prince, and I know why you have come. However, I cannot help you." I held back a groan as the scripted dialogue continued. I looked down to the floor, tracing the lines of the stones with my eyes. After playing through the game multiple times, grinding for supports and skills, the dialogue became irrelevant and, well, boring.

So, letting the others rabble on, I hooked my thumbs on my waistband and studied the people around me. Lissa was staring up at her brother and Flavia while they talked, something akin to a lost look in her eyes. Frederick was stern and stoic, though the unvented anger he held toward Raimi was hard to miss, his eyes locked onto the border guard, narrowed. Robin's eyes were darting around constantly, searching for gods-know-what. Whenever someone spoke, I noticed, her eyes locked onto them, studying them, taking in information like a super-sponge.

"Well-spoken again," Flavia said, smirking and nodding. "I look forward to seeing if you're equally skilled with a blade!" With that, the khan turned away and began to walk off, but Raimi caught her and whispered something into her ear. The, Flavia turned back around, saying, "Ah, yes. Before you arrived, a woman appeared beyond the border in robes I have never seen before. Her appearance was inexplicable, but she had a tome of dark magic with her, so we suspected she was Plegian and used some sort of dark magic to teleport past the border. She is in the dungeon, if you want to speak with her."

That was new. I didn't remember Flavia saying that in game. If Plegians were teleporting in Ferox, then that was going to be a problem. Although, I don't think any dark mages could teleport aside from Validar. Something felt…off about the theory. I needed to check it out. "Chrom," I said. "I can go check out the Plegian."

"I will, too," Robin said. Chrom nodded, and the tactician turned to the khan, saying, "Would you mind leading us to her?" Flavia looked to Raimi, who bowed, hand cross over her chest.

"Follow me," the border guard said, and walked off to the left. Robin and I hurried after her, and I waved back to Chrom, who walked back the way we came with Lissa and Frederick. Raimi led us through a doorway, which continued into a hall that was almost, if not identical to the first one. Raimi was silent as we walked, but I didn't mind all too much. I wasn't one much for conversation. We went through another door, and an atrocious scent assailed my nose, causing it to crinkle up in response. "My apologies. Some of our prisoners are rather…uncleanly."

 _No shit_ , I thought. The dungeon was about what one could expect: dim, dirty, cold, and lined with cells. It wasn't as loud as I thought it would be, though. Most of the prisoners we walked by just locked onto us with their eyes, their gaze angry and hateful. Somehow, it was worse. Toward the end of the hall, a girl in a very revealing outfit sat, most of which was navy blue, sat, her legs—which were covered only up until the mid-thigh with some type of leggings—pulled up against her chest, her chin resting on her knees, but tilted down to the floor. Her hair, long and bright red, curled and fell past her shoulders. She didn't look up when Raimi stopped at the door of her cell. "Here she is," the border guard said. "I trust you know your way back?" I didn't, but I wasn't paying attention as we walked. Robin nodded, so I would just follow her back. Raimi left us then, and we were left alone with the girl.

"I already told them that I'm not Plegian," the girl said, still not looking up. "I don't know how I got here." My eyes widened. Wait a minute, what? By the sounds of things… No, maybe I was getting my hopes up. Or maybe she was lying. Either way, I was jumping the gun. I could not confirm if she was from Earth, too. Though I couldn't exactly voice my suspicions to Robin, I didn't think she was Plegian.

So, I said, "I believe you." Robin turned on me, though not with anger. She had a curious look on her face, as if asking why I believed the girl's excuse. "She doesn't look tan enough to be from Plegia," I said simply, shrugging. It was true. For someone suspected of being from a desert-ridden country, this girl was quite pale. Paler than I was, in fact. Though, Robin may not have known that, I realized, and quickly added, "which is mostly desert."

She didn't look convinced. "I don't know, Zach. I don't know if I want to take that risk."

"Come on, Robin," I said, and she frowned. "If we free her—" as soon as those words left my mouth, the girl's head jolted up. "If we free her," I continued, "I will take responsibility for any of her actions." _Almost convinced_ , I thought. The tactician held her chin in her hand. "I'll keep an eye on her," I promised, tilting my head and raising my eyebrows.

"Yes, I'm sure you will," the tactician said, glancing at the girl with a smirk. I opened my mouth, about to prostest this complete harassment when she said, "Alright. Stay here while I find a guard." She turned and walked away, her boots thumping against the stone floor.

When I figured she was out of earshot, I turned back to the girl. "I won't be staring at you, by the way." A pair of stormy-grey eyes were perring back at me, wide. Clearing my throat, I continued. "So I have a few questions. First and foremost, are you from this world?" I knew it was sudden—very sudden, but there was no use continuing this conversation if I didn't get the elephant out of the way. She was caught off-guard by the question, blinking.

"I'm—I'm sorry?"

"Are you, or are you not, from this world?" If she was from Fire Emblem, and I looked like a complete lunatic, I had a back-up excuse: the Outrealm gate was a thing, so if she wasn't from Earth, I could bring that up. I hoped, gods, I prayed that she was from Earth, though.

She was silent for a moment longer. I briefly wondered what was taking her so long to answer the question, however absurd it seemed. It was a simple one, wasn't it? Finally, she spoke, her voice soft, hesitant, like she was testing the water of a pool. "Are-are you from Earth?"

A weight lifted from my chest—one I hadn't known was there—and I let out a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, thank the gods," I said. "Yes, I am. That means you are, as well?"

She stood up now, a look of relief and happiness on her face. "Yes, I-I am. God, you—" She grabbed the bars, and I cut her off.

"It's 'gods' here, remember? Besides, we should wait to talk about our situation later. Robin is coming back."

"R-right, yeah," she said, nodding. Now that she was standing and closer, I got a better look at her. She was shorter than me, by probably half a foot, and slim. She had freckles, too. Yeah, her outfit was _super_ revealing. I mean, nearly nothing was left to the imagination, what with the leggings, a veil over her abdomen, and what looked pretty much like underwear. At least she had a cape, which was lighter blue on the inside. Actually, she kind of looked like Nyx. "Stop staring," she said, and I blinked, shaking my head. She was blushing a bit.

"Yeah, sorry, it's just…" I of course looked away.

"Revealing, I know," she muttered, covering herself. "It's what I came here in." Ah, of course. I mean, I came here in the outfit of my class, so it made sense. I felt kind of bad, now. "I wish I could just cover up more." I took one more glance at her, then shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe Robin can get you a cloak." Speaking of, the tactician was almost here. "Oh," I said, "what's your name, by the way?"

"Um, Krystal."

"I'm Zach. It's nice to meet you," I said, sticking my hand through the bars. She shook it, albeit tentatively. I got the feeling she was shy, but that was alright. Usually, I was too. Really, I was surprised how forward and vocal I'd been the past few days. Maybe the insanity of the situation had eroded my barrier?

"This one," Robin said, pointing to Krystal's cell. The guard she'd brought with her pulled a ring of keys off his belt, unlocking the door and pulling it open. Robin thanked the guard and he nodded, scratching at his messy brown hair before trudging back down the hallway. "I am Robin," the tactician said, bowing slightly to Krystal.

"I-I know," Krystal said, "I—" She realized her slip-up before I did, and caught herself. "I overheard the two of you talking earlier." I had sucked in a breath when she said "I know", letting it out slowly. Krystal saved herself. "I-I am Krystal."

"I got this back for you," Robin said, reaching into her cloak. She pulled out a purple tome, a silver diamond-like shape in the center of the cover. "The guard gave it to me when I asked to release you. It was shocking, really, that he just let us take you with us, though," the tactician mused. I exchanged a look with Krystal, who was still covering herself. Man, now I felt worse. Then Robin yawned, and I smiled a little at how cute it was. "Ugh, we should get going. Chrom will probably be expecting us back."

I nodded, and Robin led the two of us away. I let Krystal walk ahead of me, and I swear that my intentions were purely innocent. I just didn't like people walking behind me; it made me nervous. Besides, even if I wanted to look at their asses, they both had long coats or capes so I couldn't. Speaking of which, "Hey, Robin? Do you know where Krystal could get a cloak?" The tactician didn't turn when she replied, but Krystal looked back at me. She didn't say anything, so I didn't know why she looked back.

"I'm afraid I don't," Robin admitted. Then she turned to Krystal and said, "But I could help you look some time." The tactician smiled politely, and Krystal nodded, her fiery curls bouncing. I admit, I was, and always had been, entranced with bright red hair. The more you know.

I had no idea what time it was when we returned to the dormitory area. It couldn't have been too late, but I just felt _drained_. However, I wanted to talk to Dylan yet, and now that Krystal was here, as well, we could all discuss… Earth stuff? Unfortunately, I had no idea where Dylan was. I had to find Chrom first, and then see if Krystal even wanted to join in on our chat, and THEN meet up with Dylan. Thankfully, Robin seemed to know where everything was, and helped Krystal and I find our way to Chrom. Halfway to the prince's room, she gave us directions and retired to her room. I thanked her, and Krystal and I continued forward.

"You are going to need a backstory," I said as we walked. Convincing people that she wasn't Plegian wouldn't be a problem, especially for someone as gullible as Chrom, but it would be nigh impossible if she didn't have a story. I explained this to her, then paused. "Wait, do you want to be a Shepherd? I'm sorry, I should have asked earlier." This job certainly wasn't a mantle to force upon anyone. She had to choose it.

"I-well, I really don't see any other option for me at this point, so…" Krystal twiddled her thumbs as we walked, staring at the floor. She was very quiet, even when she talked. I got the feeling that our conversations would be short, and the majority would be initiated by me, which was a problem in itself, because I didn't do… that.

"Right." A long silence followed, the only sound being our footsteps echoing throughout the stone hallway. "Hey, if you would like, I am meeting with another person from Earth after we talk to Chrom, and you could come with."

"Oh, yeah, sure," she said. There wasn't any confidence in her words, but I didn't read into it too much.

We came to Chrom's door. It was more decorated than the other Shepherds', but that was to be expected. I knocked lightly at first, but the prince didn't respond. I knocked a second time, harder. "Come in," called a voice from inside. I eased the door open, and saw Chrom sitting at a desk inside. His blue hair was disheveled, his back slightly hunched, and he was scribbling something if the shaking quill was anything to go by. The room was basic, albeit with a few more luxuries than I suspected the other Shepherds had. For instance, the bed in the corner had blankets of a solid blue colouring. A lantern was lit on the desk, and what I assumed was a holder for it was attached to the wall. Across from the lantern holder was a map. It looked like a map of the palace. After a moment, he sighed and turned around. "What can I help you wi—oh, Zach. And who is this?"

"H-Hi," Krystal said, shuffling nervously and covering herself. "My name is Krystal." Christ, I probably should have made sure she was ready to enter. Meeting the prince under fairly normal circumstances—for our situation, at least—would really put you on the spot. At least, judging by the way that Krystal shriveled up under Chrom's gaze.

"Krystal is the girl who was captured by the Feroxi and suspected of being Plegian," I informed. "I, however, do not believe her to be Plegian." Chrom studied her for a moment, standing up.

"If you trust her," Chrom said, donning a smile that only he could pull off, "then I will as well." I knew that the real fight would be convincing Frederick. Gods, convincing him to allow both Dylan and Krystal to join could very well have proved impossible. "Nice to meet you, Krystal."

"Nice to meet you, too."

I waited for her to continue speaking, and when she didn't, said, "Say, Chrom, where is Dylan?" He frowned, saying nothing. "The bird-man?"

"Yes, I know who you're talking about," the prince said, caressing his chin. He walked over to the map on the wall and squinted. "I believe…" he tapped a room on the map, labeled as R-11. "he is in this room."

I studied the map for a moment longer, attempting to memorize the way Krystal and I needed to go. "Okay," I mumbled. "I think I can find the way there." If not, I could always ask another person. I turned to Krystal. "You ready to go?" She nodded. "Alright, Chrom, I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah," he said, walking back to his desk. He seemed tired, as well. I really needed to step outside, or at least look through a window to see if it was night or not. Krystal and I left Chrom to whatever it was he was doing, and began meandering our way through the hall while I tried to recall how it looked on the map.

"Bird-man?" Krystal asked at one point. Ah, yes. Perhaps I should explain the winged man that I could hopefully get to join our ranks. "I thought you said he was from Earth?" Oh.

"Yes, well, how he came to have wings, I don't know." I mean, we'd only had one conversation, and a stubby one at that. Dylan certainly had some question coming. "But he knows about Earth, so I can only assume that he's in the same boat as us. Also, sorry I dragged you into Chrom's room like that." Perhaps it wasn't a big deal, but I kind of felt bad, especially when she was so, uh, scantily clad. "I didn't mean to put you on the spot."

"No," Krystal muttered, "i-it's fine." I didn't believe her. But I didn't say anything. As we walked, I started looking at the numbers engraved on the doors. _109, 110, 111_.

"There we are," I said, and knocked with a little too much force, this time. "Dylan should be in here."

To my dismay, however, a voice that was very much _not_ Dylan's responded to the knock. "Wha!" cried a feminine voice; a voice that I recognized. "One moment!" I heard shuffling feet, then a thump before the door opened, revealing a disheveled Sumia. Her forehead was red, and she was rubbing it. "Yes?"

"Oh, my apologies, Sumia," I said, forcing a slight smile. "I was looking for Dylan's room." I must have remembered the number incorrectly.

Sumia smiled. "It's no problem. Is Dylan the man with the wings?" I nodded. "I think he is in that room right there." She leaned out the door and pointed two rooms away, at R-13.

"Ah, thank you," I said, nodding. "Sorry, again. Talk to you later." I waved, and Krystal and I walked over to R-13. _Please actually be his_ , I prayed. I knocked, moderating my pressure. Dylan opened the door faster than Sumia, almost like he was waiting.

"There you are," he said, his arms crossed. It was weird how his mostly black wings blended with the black clothing, but didn't clash too much with his dirty blonde hair. He looked smooth as fuck. His gaze shifted to Krystal behind me. "Who is this?"

"This is Krystal," I said, stepping to the side and gesturing to her. "She is from Earth, as well. A dark mage."

Dylan nodded. "I see. Come in." I closed the door behind us, and scanned the room. More basic than Chrom's. The room was an entirely lighter colour, and the desk was smaller, with no inkwell or quill upon it. The bed had a bland green blanket, and was similar in size to the cot that I slept in at the Garrison back in Ylisse. "Take a seat anywhere." I sat down in the chair, Krystal sat on the bed, and Dylan leaned against the wall. "So where should we start?"

"Well," I clasped my hands together and set them in my lap, "Maybe we should introduce ourselves. Maybe our classes while we're at it?"

"Sounds good," Dylan said, nodding. "I'll start. My name is Dylan, I'm from Earth. Best I can tell, I'm a Laguz. Obviously, I am of the Bird Tribe, but I don't know if I'm Hawk or Raven." Hmm. I thought it was hawk, but then I also don't know my giant birds.

"I'll go next, then." I cleared my throat, saying, "My name is Zach. I'm from Minnesota. I am pretty sure that I'm a myrmidon."

"A-and I'm Krystal. I'm from, uh, Rhode Island. I am a dark mage, so I'm stuck with this humiliating outfit. It's good to know that I'm not alone in this world, though."

Dylan nodded. "Yes, I'm sure that we are all grateful to see others from Earth. I have a question," he said, raising a finger. "How long have the two of you been here?"

I thought for a moment, tilting my head back. "Um, I think two or three days, why?"

"And you, Krystal?"

"I think the same time."

Dylan nodded. "I was wondering if we all got here at the same time. I woke up way farther east of here. I flew here in hopes of meeting up with the Shepherds." He chuckled. "It seems like I arrived at a good time, too."

I nodded. "Yeah, you saved my ass. Thanks, again, for that." He waved the thought away. "Anyway," I continued, "I woke up closer to Southtown, and met with Chrom and the gang there. Helped them take down Garrick and the Risen on the way here."

"Sounds like you have the most battle experience, then." Dylan closed his eyes for a moment. "Krystal, what happened for you?"

"Um, I woke up in Ferox, past the border. Some guards found me an took me to the dungeon," she sulked. "They thought I was Plegian because I had a dark magic tome, and assumed I used teleportation or something to get past the border. It was awful."

"I thought it was weird when they told me someone managed to teleport past the wall." I didn't think anyone had that type of magic, at least not in Awakening. It would have been interesting, however. If teleportation could be used like it is by the witches in Gaiden, dark mages would have been even more useful. Sadly, I didn't think it existed. "Constant threat would make any one jump to conclusions."

"How were you freed?" Dylan asked, cocking his head to the side curiously.

"I just said she didn't look tan enough," I said simply, shrugging. "They bought it." The fact that Robin didn't question me further was a blessing. I didn't have anything else to get Krystal out. A silence followed, then Dylan cleared his throat.

"Now that introductions are out of the way," the Laguz said, "we should talk about… what we're going to do here." I raised my eyebrow. "I mean, in this world. What's our plan?"

I nodded. "Oh, I see what you mean. My plan, or lack thereof, was to just roll with the game's story and get to the end. Maybe that would get us back home."

"You think that would work?" Dylan asked and I shrugged. "And even if it did, we would have to wait _two years_." I nodded. Yeah, that was the issue. Plus, we would have to survive this war, the war with Valm AND the war with the Grimleal. We had our work cut out for us.

It was at this moment that I yawned, and caused a chain reaction of yawns. A wave of fatigue washed over me and I slouched. "Yeah, I've been thinkin' about it for the past few days. But it's really all I could think of."

"Yeah," Dylan yawned now, and covered his mouth. "I'll see if I can think of a quicker solution but, for tonight, it may be best if we go to sleep."

"Sounds good to me, man," I said, standing up and cracking my back. "Kryyyshtal, we should probably get you a room," my voice slurred with the yawn that Dylan's triggered. She nodded and stood up, waving to Dylan. I waved as well, opening the door. "Talk to you later, dude," I said. We left Dylan and made our way back to Chrom's room.

I knocked twice, but there was no response. I figured he was asleep now. He seemed pretty tired earlier. I was reluctant to knock harder, not quite wanting to tear him from the sweet embrace of sleep, but I did, albeit only with a slight increase in power. After a third try, only performed because I wanted to get Krystal a room, I gave up. Chrom was out.

"Well," I sighed, slumping my arms to my sides, "I have an idea." I was slowing down. I just wanted sleep at this point. "You can just have my room for tonight. I'll find somewhere else to sleep." She seemed hesitant to agree, but didn't actually protest. "If you want I can lead you there, if you'd like," I offered.

"Um, sure." I lead her to my room, labeled R-5, and handed her the key. "Thank you," she said, and unlocked the door. "Good…good night." I smiled and nodded. She began to close the door and I turned, walking away.

I knew I wasn't going to be able to convince myself to ask someone if I could bunk with them, so I wandered aimlessly around the halls. I found guard walking through the hall, lance strapped to his back. He had light blonde hair, in a hairstyle that I was a little surprised to see. It was cut short on the right side, but the left was long, tied up in a side ponytail. He was wearing the standard Feroxi armour, though. "Hey," I called, and he turned to face me. I saw that he had a scar under his right eye, but said nothing of it. "I, uh, lost the key to my room." Wow, such a creative lie. I was really breaking the mold with that one, huh? "Do you think there is a place I could sleep for just the night?"

The guard gave a look that displayed such utter distaste, I felt like an idea due to an awful lie. "How the hell did you manage to lose your key?" I shrugged, and he shook his head. "You're kind of an idiot, huh?"

I scowled at him. "Listen, man," I said, my temper growing. "I just want to know if there is a place I can sleep. I don't really care where it is."

He rolled his eyes, but jerked a thumb back behind him. "There's a library down that way. You could probably sleep in there." I begrudgingly thanked him, and started walking down the hall. Before he was out of earshot, I heard him mutter, "I don't see why you're getting so upset, though." I didn't turn around and cuss him out, despite how much I wanted to, and just continued toward the library.

I found it before long. I was a little disappointed that they didn't have the comfortable chairs I expected in the library, but this wasn't like the places back home. There were chairs, though. Wooden ones, like the one at Dylan's desk. I grabbed a few of them and pushed them together before dropping down and lying on them. It wasn't comfortable, but it was better than the floor. I was tired enough that it didn't matter, anyway, and dozed off easily. I was thankful to have a dreamless sleep once more.

 **AN: Alrighty, so the gap between chapters was a little longer this time. Probably expect a week between chapters if I'm being a responsible high school student and doing my homework. If I'm not, it may be only a day or two. At least I'm not doing month long breaks though, right? Yeah.**

 **In other news, THERE IS ANOTHER OC! Wow, that was fast. Krystal is in the mix now, and she's a dark mage. The whole earth-people meet-up thing was something I'd planned for a while, really ever since I got like the third character request. I am going to have more of those, and they will hopefully get longer the more people get involved. Also, I know I said Dylan would get more time in this one. I planned to, but like a several things in this chapter, it didn't quite work out that way.**

 **This chapter may read a little differently. I am getting more comfortable writing in this style. Before, it was muffled, mostly because I was just timid with my writing. Now though, I am expressing Zach's personality a bit more, which I'm hoping is a good thing that will hold your guys' interest more. Besides, it is better to do a switch (however subtle) like this early on.**

 **Two more things before I go. First, if any of you have artistic talent and are willing to at any point send in art for a story cover, I would be eternally grateful. Second, Stormrider57, your last review felt really good to read. I mean, you included my staple outro thing and IT TOUCHED MY HEART. Thank you sincerely for that. Honestly.**

 **And now, I bid you adieu. All of the Oats have left the building.**


	6. Chapter 5: Books and Bruises

**AN: So the last chapter was an Interlude, and this is as well. This was actually going to be part of the last chapter, but it got up to 5,000 words so I decided to cut it. I didn't want it getting too long. Anyway, uh, enjoy, I guess.**

 **Disclaimer: Hnnnnnnngh, ain't own nothin'.**

I woke up in the morning with a stiff back and neck. Light was filtering in through the small windows high up on the stone walls. I rolled off the chairs I was lying on with a long stretch and dropped to the floor before standing up and cracking my back. "Ah," I breathed, smacking my lips. "Much better." Rubbing my neck, I looked around.

Ah, right. I was in the library. I didn't really get a good look at it last night. As expected, there were several bookshelves, all made from a dark wood. I walked around and saw spines of books in multiple colours sitting on the shelves. I picked one off that had a black cover. _Make Him Fall For You In A Fortnight._ I snorted. What were the chances that I found this book?

I shook my head and placed it back on the shelf. I wandered out from the library and into the hall, only to come face to face with Sumia. We both jumped, and she yelped. "Oh, Zach," she said, placing a hand over her chest and exhaling deeply. Her grayish hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she was out of her armour, instead wearing a short, light pink dress. "Good morning."

"Good morning to you, too," I said, smiling. I noticed a book in her hand. "Returning a book?" I asked, gesturing toward it.

"Yes," the Pegasus Knight nodded, holding it slightly higher and looking at the cover. "A friend of mine recommended it to me, but it's too…" she trailed off, frowning. "It isn't to my taste." I tilted my head up so I could peer over and see the title. The actual cover was a maroon, with _Steam and Spring_ scrawled across it in golden letters. I masked a smirk, fairly certain I knew what that meant. The slight blush on Sumia's face when she saw me looking at the book made me certain.

"A-Anyway," she said, shaking her head, "I was just returning it." I stepped aside and she walked in. I watched her for a moment before continuing on my way. I wanted to go to Chrom, talk to him about getting Krystal a room. Oh, right. Krystal was in my room. That's why I was in the library.

I knocked on Chrom's door, and was pleasantly surprised to find him already wide awake. He opened the door, dressed in a dark blue shirt. "Good morning, Zach," he said, smiling. "What do you need?"

His smile was infectious, despite my grogginess. "I am here to talk to you about Krystal," I said. "May I come in?" He stepped to the side, and closed the door behind me. He sat down in the desk and I stood in the middle of the room. "So, first I need to know: are you willing to take her into the Shepherds?"

Chrom leaned back in the chair. He remained silent for a time, staring at the ceiling in thought. "I don't know," he finally said.

My brow furrowed. "You said you trusted her last night," I said, a little too defensively. Chrom leaned forward again and propped his elbow on his knee, resting his chin in his palm.

"I did," the prince admitted. "Though that isn't quite true." _Shit_. "I mean," he sighed, "I trust you. I trust your judgement, and I want to trust Krystal, but my heart is conflicted. If she is Plegian—" I opened my mouth to say otherwise, but he held up a hand. " _If_ she is Plegian," he continued, "I—I don't know, it just wouldn't sit right with me. What if she actually was a spy?"

The worst part of what he was saying was that I had no solid way to refute any of his points. As far as he knew, a girl from somewhere unknown dressed in dark mage robes and carrying a dark magic tome appeared mysteriously behind the Longfort, and now I tried to convince him to bring her into his mini militia. So, I took a deep breath and said, "Chrom, I will strike a deal with you." This conversation took a turn I wasn't expecting when I came in here, especially this early in the morning, but I suppose it had to happen at some point. "I will look after Krystal. I will take responsibility for any actions she takes against the Shepherds and Ylisse."

I looked Chrom dead in the eye. I was serious, and he could see it. I knew Krystal was from Earth, so I really had no reason to _not_ make the wager. If I couldn't trust my fellow Earthlings in this world, then I was fucked anyway. "Is that fair," I asked, hooking my thumbs on my waistband.

Chrom stared back at me for a long time, before he sighed. "Alright. I can tell you're serious about this. If you trust her that much, then I really don't have any choice." He stood up. "Is that all you wanted to talk about?"

I stepped back and leaned against the wall. "No, actually. What I wanted to discuss was if we could get Krystal a room to stay in. I gave her mine last night, and while I'm willing to again," I said, "I would rather sleep in a bed than on a chair."

"Of course," Chrom said. "I will talk to Flavia about it later today. Anything else?" I thought for a moment, but came up with nothing, so I shook my head. "Alright. I have a few question of my own, then." I raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. "Do you wish for Dylan to join our ranks, as well." Oh, shit, I forgot about him.

"Uh, yeah, yes, I do."

Chrom nodded. "It would be advantageous to have a shape-shifter with us, and it's clear that he is willing to help us." I'd say. He saved my life, after all. "Okay. I would like to talk with each of them soon. One more thing," he said, and a grins spread across his face. "I want to spar with you." I blinked. Wait, what? My confusion must have shown, as he repeated himself. "I want to spar with you. We are the only swordsmen in the Shepherds, so I thought it would be an interesting fight."

No one would hold a weapon advantage, so it would be on fairly even footing. "Sure," I said. His grin widened, and I smiled, too. I had nothing else going on today, so why not? What could go wrong? "Where are we doing this?"

"Out in the training field," he said. "But we'll have to wait until a little later. I want to talk to Flavia now. I'll meet up with you after and lead you to the field."

"Sounds good," I said. "I'll probably go back to the library for now." I didn't exactly have my phone or anything to occupy my time, so a book would have to do.

"I'll meet you there."

I nodded and departed for the library, while Chorm turned the other way. I wasn't surprised to find Sumia searching through the shelves when I got there. "What are you looking for?" I asked, causing her to jump. I smiled, but said, "Sorry."

"No, it's fine." She pulled another book off the shelf, then frowned. "I'm just browsing. None of these books are what I want, though."

"Well what do you like to read?" I asked, walking up next to her. I thought she liked stories with strong female leads, if her supports with Robin were anything to go by. "Adventure, Romance, Mystery?" Did they have books of the mystery genre here?

"I like stories that—" she stopped, thinking for a moment. "Adventure," she decided. I nodded, and she continued. "There's something about seeing the main character growing and fighting for what they believe in that—" she stopped again. "Sorry, I'm rambling."

"No, it's cool," I said, chuckling, and she flushed. "It's nice to see someone that likes books. That isn't something you'd see back home. Besides," I said, "I know exactly what you mean."

"You like to read?" she asked, hopeful. I nodded, and she smiled. "Oh, that's great," she cheered. "Do you read adventure, as well?" I nodded again. "Maybe you can help me find a good one?"

"Of course," I said, pulling a book off the shelf, despite the fact that I didn't know any of the books in this universe. My luck was boundless at this moment, however, as on the fifth or sixth try, I grabbed perhaps the perfect book for Sumia. The cover read, "The Holy Jewels." I flipped it open and read a few pages, to discover that these names were very, very familiar. " _Eirika held tightly to Seth as they rode from the castle_ ," I read, and Sumia faced me, intrigued. "' _Forgive me for grabbing you so brusquely earlier,' Seth said, but the princess shook_ —"

"What book is that?" Sumia asked, cutting me off.

" _The Jewels of Fire_ ," I said, though it was clearly the story of Sacred Stones. The fact that the story of another Fire Emblem game was a book here was fascinating. I wondered briefly if there were any other game-books here. "You want it?" I asked, holding the book out to her.

"Sure," the Pegasus knight said, grabbing the book and rubbing a hand over the cover. "It sounds interesting."

I opened my mouth to speak, but peeking past her, I saw Chrom walking to the room. "I hope you like it. You'll have to tell me how it is sometime."

"I will," she smiled, nodding. "Thank you for finding this. Now if you need me, I will be in my room." She turned and walked away, staring down at the now open book in her hand. She was looking at it so intently that she didn't notice the wall until she walked into it. I chuckled a little at the sight, shaking my head. I continued to browse the shelves, both looking for a book that would interest me and another book that was based off of a Fire Emblem game. I don't know how long I was in there. By the time I gave up searching and slumped onto a chair, unable to find a book that would hook me, Chrom walked in.

"Do you find something to your tastes?" the prince asked, but the smirk on his face showed that he already knew the answer. I shook my head and sighed. He chuckled and offered a hand to help me up. "Then maybe now is a good time for that spar?"

"Yeah, sure," I said, taking his hand and being pulled to my feet. "I will have to come back later. See if I can find something then." Chrom led me out from the library and farther down the stone hallway. It seemed that the entire palace was carved from the same grey stone, because that was practically the only pattern I'd seen. We took a few more turns before winding up outside.

The training field was, for the most part, cleared of the snow that covered Ferox. It was pushed into piles along the walls, leaving the center bare for those wishing to train. Obviously, it was cold, as well. The chill in the air was a small comfort. I was certainly more used to the weather than Chrom, but I didn't know how much that would mean. Along one of the walls were racks of sparring weapons, swords and lances alike. Chrom walked over, grabbed two practice swords and tossed one to me.

We took up positions across from each other, maybe ten yards apart. I admit, I was curious who was going to win this bout. I knew for a fact that Chrom was stronger than me; his massive arms were a testament to that, but I had the advantage in terms of speed. I met his eyes, raising and levelling my sword at eye level. "You ready?" he asked, and I nodded.

One thing I noticed right off the bat? Chrom was faster than I anticipated. He charged the first few yards before I had a chance to react. Fortunately, I found my bearings in time and raised my sword to block the incoming strike. Second thing? I was right about how strong he was. The pressure he put against me with his sword was enough that I needed to brace my own with both hands, and even then he was overpowering me.

I tilted my weapon so that his would glance off, and it worked enough for me to hop out of immediate danger. Okay, so I may have underestimated the prince. Nevertheless, I was determined to win, my competitiveness driving me.

I ran forward and brought my sword down against him, only to find it blocked. He pushed me back with a grunt, but I followed-up quickly with a spin-attack, whacking him on the ribs. My small victory was short-lived, as I was unable to pull away in time to avoid his retaliating attack.

His wooden sword, held in both hands, slammed against my shoulder. I cried out, hearing something crack. "Fuck," I cursed, hopping back twice. Thankfully, he hit my left shoulder, so I could still fight. Damn, he want holding back at all. Growling, I dived back into the fray. I was determined to at least score a few more hits on him.

Running low, I ducked under his swing, rolling to the side. I jumped to my feet and whipped my sword at him. He deflected the blow with his weapon, and retaliated, forcing me to dodge away again. I fell more into the rhythm of the fight, and grew a little more confident in my skills. I was warmed up, now, and despite my probably severely injured shoulder, I was ready to roll. Literally.

Our spar repeated that process. I would come in fast, avoiding his first attack with a roll to the side, and rising up with one of my own, which he either parried or avoided before slamming his sword to the ground as I dodged his second strike. At this point, neither of us were landing hits. It took a little longer for me to get into the thralls of this, but now we were evenly matched. At least, I thought so.

Seeing that this was going nowhere, however, I stayed back longer, observing the prince. Maybe if I stayed low and swept his legs? That would probably catch him off-guard and I could end this. I exhaled, my breath rising in a cloud. _Alright_. I ran at him again. This time, I was going to slide down instead of rolling and sweep at his legs. Every other time, he started with a horizontal slash, so this would work.

When he drew his arm back, I dropped to a slide. I was about to smack his calves when he left my view in a blur. Dumbfounded, I recovered from the slide slowly. I turned around in time to see the prince land in a somersault. _He jumped me?_ He whirled around, his hard gaze set on me once more.

I charged and this time, he did, too. I swung hard from my right, and he swung to stop it. He succeeded, knocking the tip of my sword to the ground. He followed it with a kick at my stomach, which I hopped out of reach from. I reversed, swinging from the left now. I realized it too late, much too late; he already knew. He read me like a book and was already counterattacking.

By the time I was halfway through my swing, his sword was poised for a lightning-quick jab. The jab came, and I rolled out of the way. The way my body was already moving, however, only permitted me to roll left. Onto my injured shoulder.

So I did. I rolled, unable to recover properly. I landed on my hands and knees, pushing away. I wasn't fast enough, though, and he did a little spin, hooking his leg behind mine and sweeping me onto my ass. I landed with a grunt, and he levelled the tip of his practice sword at my throat. I raised my right hand in surrender, dropping my weapon. "I want a rematch," I said, and he pulled me to my feet. "But I need to get my shoulder looked at, first."

"I can go get Lissa," said the prince. I nodded, and he walked back inside. Meanwhile, I walked over and leaned against the wall, absentmindedly clutching my shoulder. What had I done wrong? He knew exactly what I was going to do. That right swing was predictable, I knew. I wound up way too early, but the swing from the left? That should have caught him off guard.

It wasn't long before Chrom returned with Lissa in tow, a healing staff in her hand. She inspected my shoulder for a moment, scolding Chrom and saying that he should be more careful when it comes to sparring. I recalled that he had a habit of destroying training dummies, as well, so maybe I had gotten lucky. "And you want to have a rematch?" she asked, incredulous, turning on me as her staff went to work on my shoulder. It was strange, having what I assumed to be a bone injury healed. It didn't itch, like when I got cut, but instead gave off an ache.

"My competitiveness demands one," I said, smiling. Lissa just scoffed and shook her head.

"I suppose that means I'll have to stay out here in the cold some more to make sure you don't injure yourself again." The jab was light hearted, and set apart by the smile that followed as she retreated back to the wall.

Chrom and I took up positions across from each other again. This time, I took the first move. The prince stood still, but his feet were planted sturdily to the ground. I went low again, feigning right and going for a jab when I got close. His sword caught mine as he swung in an arc, knocking my weapon to the side. He followed with a kick, catching me in the chest and forcing me away. I fell to the ground, and he jumped into the air. He did a mid-air flip and brought his sword down.

I rolled out of the way as his weapon hit the ground with a _thwack_. Hopping to my feet, I moved away. I gave myself a second to recuperate, then charged back at him. I swung down and he blocked it, so I kicked forward, causing him to hop out of the way. He whirled around in a spinning attack and I hopped out of range.

This was repetitive again, I realized. But there wasn't much I could do, as he pressed at me, attacking with repeated swipes that I had to continually jump away from. I realized that he was pushing me to a wall, however, and on the last hit, I rolled to the side. His back was still to me, so I swung at him while he was vulnerable.

He whipped around faster than I could stop the swing and caught me on the side just as I made contact, hitting him on the forearm of his off hand. I tumbled to the side from the force of the hit, rolling along the ground. I heaved myself to my feet, coughing. A sharp pain lanced through me from my side, and I winced.

I saw Chrom rub his arm where I struck him, but he seemed unfazed, otherwise. Yeah, this was over. I stood up straight and lowered my weapon. "I concede." This match had gone quicker than the last. Aside from how much it hurt to inhale, my breathing wasn't even strained yet. "Whatever you did to my ribs is too much."

He waved Lissa over and I handed him my weapon. "Sorry," he said, smiling slightly. Yeah, he didn't pull his punches. But then, I hadn't expected him to this time. What did I do wrong this time? My movements were more erratic, that much was for sure. Hell, half the time I didn't know what I was doing. Maybe he was just that much more experienced than I. Maybe I just needed more work.

After I was all healed up, Lissa and I returned inside. Chrom stayed out there, saying he still needed to train today. He also told me Flavia said Krystal could have the room after Dylan's. I wanted to ask Lissa if she noticed anything…off about the way that I fought, but hesitated. _No, she probably wouldn't know either_. Ultimately, she headed farther down the hall, and I stopped at the library again.

I didn't know why I was back here. I hanged around the library for a while longer anyway, occasionally picking a book off the shelves and flipping through a page or two before putting it back. Sometimes, people came in and, within five minutes, found a book to their liking and left.

Ugh. I sulked in a chair, a less than gripping novel by someone named Aventi dangling in my grasp. The premise of the story—a man who traveled the world in search of the most powerful mage—had promise to it, but the actual writing wasn't very good. It never caught my interest. Just as I stood up to go put it away, I spot a head of white hair walking by. "Robin?" I called, and the tactician stopped, leaning back into the doorway. "What are you up to?"

A smile spread across her face and she walked in. "I was looking for you actually."

"Oh?" I was caught off guard. I wasn't expecting that. "And why would that be?" She took a seat next to the one I'd been in a moment ago, her legs moving to cross themselves. I sat down again, too.

Her fingers laced together, resting on her knee as she said, "I was looking for you, actually." Her hair wasn't tied into its traditional twin-tails. Instead, it was in a single, twirling ponytail that was flopped over her shoulder. Her eyes were moving, barely enough to be noticeable. "I wanted to talk to you."

"About?"

"Nothing in particular," she said, smiling more. "Something about you is just…" A pause, like she was searching for the right word. "Something about you interests me." I felt the heat rush to my face, and fought off the correspondent smile with gusto. My heart rate picked up slightly, as well. This excitement died as fast as it came, as fast as, I don't know, _insert clever metaphor involving death here_ when she said, "I felt the same thing about Krystal and, what was his name, Dylan? for the brief moment I talked to him yesterday."

It took me a moment to realize that whatever she felt involved the three of us, the three people from _Earth_. That was something worth remembering, and certainly worth bringing up the next time they and I met up. "I certainly see why you'd be interested in Krystal. I mean, dark mages with are interesting in their own right and Dylan, well, he's a fuckin bird, so…" I shrugged. It didn't occur to me until now that we were acquiring new members at an alarming rate. We already had three more members than were usually in the game. If this trend continued, I worried that something would go wrong.

"You make a good point," Robin said thoughtfully, moving one hand to stroke her chin. Her eyes didn't leave me, though. I remembered this look in her eye. It gave me a reminder that Robin was a born tactician. She was always taking information in, even now, in the middle of a casual conversation. It was both amazing and frightening at the same time. "Perhaps 'interest' is the wrong word. While I _do_ find those aspects interesting, the feeling I'm talking about is more _mysterious_." Her voice was low, a calculating tone that made me force down a shudder. "I'm not sure how to explain it further." That was for the better, I thought. Whatever she was feeling, whatever mystery she sensed _had_ to be connected to the fact that those two and myself were from Earth. I couldn't think of anything else. "Ah," she said, eyes shooting open wider. "I should get going. I picked up a book on tactics last night and I want to read up on it some more." Her tone switched back to her friendly, higher tone quickly. "It was nice talking with you," she said, standing up.

"Yeah," I said. "It was. I'll talk to you later."

Apparently, my farewell was taken as a request because she nodded and said, "Of course. Goodbye." After she walked off, I sighed. I'd been sweating. I had no idea being under the tactician's gaze was that stressful. I didn't like it.

I wasn't in the mood to dig through the library anymore, so I got up and walked back to my room. I passed by the Vaike in the hall. When I waved, he did that weird face where he stuck out his tongue and smiled, but didn't say anything. I didn't bother dealing with him. I twisted the knob to my door and frowned. It didn't twist. It was locked. Oh, of course, Krystal was still in there.

I knocked twice and received no response. Was she still asleep? I knocked twice more, and again, nothing. "Krystal, let me in," I called. Thankfully, I didn't have to wait for longer than a few dozen seconds for the lock to click and the door to open. Inside stood a half-asleep Krystal, her red curls disheveled, her hand rubbing the sleep from her eye, her robe-thing just slightly hanging off her shoulder. "Good morning," I said, grinning.

"G'morning," she mumbled. She looked even younger than I thought she was. It still was early, wasn't it?

"So good news," I said. "I convinced Chrom to get you a room: it's the one right after Dylan's—do you remember where that is?" Krystal stared at me in a daze, her eyes half-lidded. "Krystal, did you hear me?"

She blinked and nodded. "Um, yes. Thank you for that. And for letting me use your room." I nodded, told her that it wasn't a problem, and she walked off, but not before tugging her robe back up.

My room was practically untouched, aside from the bed, of course. The blankets were a mess. They were rolled up on one side, leaving the majority of the bed uncovered. I assumed she slept curled up under the duvet. I dropped onto the bed and took a deep breath, then scowled. I smelled awful. Then, I hadn't bathed in several days that involved more physical activity than I was used to, so it was to be expected.

I walked out and knocked on Lissa's door, hoping she was in there. She opened up the door, but just a crack and peered through. "What's up?" she asked.

I arched my brow but didn't question her curious behavior. "I was just wondering if there was somewhere I could take a bath?" She nodded and gave me directions, opening the door only slightly further and keeping at least one of her hands hidden. I was hesitant to trust her, but I did, because I needed a bath.

Her directions were truthful, and I found myself at a bathhouse just off the palace. It wasn't private, but that was to be expected. It was split, one half for women and the other for men, and made of stone. The roof was an exception, being wood. I double-checked to make sure I was on the right side, and then eased myself into the heated water. Really, I was surprised at how warm they kept it. I didn't know how they kept it heated—maybe hot rocks or something, but I certainly wasn't complaining. I sat in the hot water for probably half an hour, relaxing.

There was a mirror in the bathhouse, too, which I moved to stand in front of after drying myself off. It was fogged up, so I wiped it clear to get a good look at myself. I looked, well, better than I thought I did. Definitely better than I had back on Earth, if only for the subtle details. For instance, my nose, which had been slightly crooked back home, was now straight. My hair was still the same, falling over my face in dark curls. I combed my hand through it to push it back, but it was just as stubborn as it'd always been. It was longer, though, which made me grin.

A plan in mind, I made my way to Robin's room and knocked on her door. She looked surprised to see me standing there with slightly damp hair, headband in my hand. "What do you need?" she asked.

"Can you tie my hair up like yours?"

She smiled, but tilted her head and gave me a strange look. "What? Why?"

"It's just something I want to do."

"Is it even long enough?" she asked, stepping aside and letting me in.

"Yeah, I used to do it quite a bit, but I'm not good at it. I figured you could do it better, considering the ponytail you've got right now."

She shrugged and sat me down in the chair at her desk. "I didn't realize how curly your hair was," she observed, going through the strands and pulling them. It had been a long time since I'd last tied my hair back, and I'd gotten good reviews, so it was worth doing. By the time Robin finished, my hair was tied and taught, back in a short tail that, due to how my curls would poof, would later look like a bun. I stood up and turned toward her, meeting a smirk and bright eyes. "It looks good," Robin said, and a grin spread across my face, as well.

"Thanks," I said. I _knew_ I looked good like this. "Should I wear it like this more often?" I got a nod in response, and the decision was final. Maybe more opinions on the matter would be neat?

 **AN: It's been awhile. Probably two weeks, yeah? No excuses here. I do have an explanation, though. I am working on a novel of my own, for which the spark has recently reignited and I'd been focusing more on that. Also, I've been a little more responsible in terms of doing homework, which has kept me more busy. Finally, my free time has been flying past for me, which I am upset about. But, eh, what do ya do?**

 **Anyway, another interlude. It's a fairly lighthearted chapter, one that I'm actually very happy with. I also had the first support conversation in there, which I was also happy to write (see if you can find it, though I'm sure it won't be too difficult). All in all, a fine chapter which I hope was worth the wait.**

 **All of the Oats have left the building.**


	7. Chapter 6: Two Falchions

**Disclaimer: Poor, ain't own nothin'**

 **Also, I suppose it's fair warning that I may say things that some people may find offensive. Maybe. I don't know. I'm just being cautious. Just remember that most of Zach interjects with is sarcastic and meant to be used in humor. No offense meant.**

"Remind me," I said, leaning forward, my elbows resting on my knees as I peered past the man sat in front of me, "how does this whole thing work and when do I fight?"

We were in the Arena Ferox, sat in the middle rows of the stands. It was warm, and the smell of alcohol filled the air, even though the fights hadn't started yet. Robin had given a brief description of how this would go, but I was blanking. Next to me sat Stahl and Sumia, neither of whom would be participating in the battle.

"It's a one-on-one tournament," Stahl said, yawning. The tournament took place just past dawn, and many of the Shepherds, myself included, had to be woken up early to get ready. His hair was styled as it usually was: messily. He wasn't wearing is armor. He was dressed in an olive green shirt and gray pants. "Two people fight, one moves on to participate in the next round and so on."

Something clicked in my mind. "Right, right. I'm the fourth match, I'm pretty sure." I wasn't sure who was all participating from the Shepherds aside from Chrom, Robin, and myself. Maybe Frederick. "Will I have to fight one of us?" Ugh, I was tired. I did not sleep well last night.

"If you both win."

Hmm. Another fight with Chrom would not be pleasant, especially since we were using real weapons, and he had Falchion. Robin wouldn't be fun, either. I was sure she was using magic and swords. Frederick was straight up terrifying, too. None of the Shepherds would be an easy match.

The actual Arena looked like you would expect: Round, the circumference lined with rows upon rows of stone seats. The entire room was made of stone, sans the center, which was a circle of sand. Two doors were on either side of the pit, where I suspected the two combatants would enter from. There was no daylight coming in; the entire Arena was indoors, and the only light offered was torchlight, though there was an abundance of it. Sight would not be a problem.

With the beat of hidden drums, the tournament began. Cheering and shouting erupted from the crowd, only dying down when the doors lifted open and the combatants stepped out. The first two were some guy in armor and Frederick. Both were wielding spears. I suspected that this match would be over quick.

Frederick and the knight walked closer and bowed, then hefted their spears into a firm grip. The two stared at each other, and silence fell. Then, the knight charged forward, bellowing a deep battle cry. Frederick made no noise, and the bang of steel on steel rang throughout the room as Freddy ducked under the knight's swing and smashed his own spear against the fool's chest plate. The knight fell to the ground with a crash and a spearhead at his throat. I smirked at the speed of the match and how Freddy was blatantly stronger. This were going well.

I jumped when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Dylan standing on the row behind me. "Chrom was looking for you," he said. "Something about getting down to the waiting room and preparing for your match?"

"Oh shit, thanks." I stood up and skirted down the row until I reached the stairs and ran to the prep room. If all of the matches went anywhere close to the fast, I was going to be late for mine. I rounded the corner and almost bumped into a girl in a cleric's outfit. I didn't pick up any more details, as I apologized and sprinted past her. The halls were dead quiet. The only sounds were my footsteps, echoing through the stone hall. I skidded to a stop at the prep room door and slammed it open. Chrom was stood just inside the door, his hand reaching to open it when I did so. "What's up?" I asked, trying to catch my breath.

He cracked a smile and said, "Get ready." He walked past me. "Robin's fighting now, then it's me, and then you." I nodded. The prep room was bland; there were no decorations or furnishing, but there were racks for armor and weapons. I picked through the swords. They were all iron, I believed, but not all of the exact same shape or weight. I chose a lighter one; the others would slow me down, and I felt like a lighter blade would complement my style, whatever that was at the moment.

I was antsy, pacing around the room trying to expel the energy that flooded my legs as I prepared for the match. I was really, _really_ nervous. It was something I hadn't felt in a long time, at least not to this extent. I had to wipe the sweat from my hands twice. I didn't want to mess up, to fail and let the others down. The door opened and I jumped a little, but tried to collect myself by the time Robin walked in. "How'd it go?"

"Fine," she said, setting her sword on the rack. "I won." She sighed, but smiled. "I was against another mage, so I held the advantage with my sword."

"Who's Chrom against?"

"I think it's an axe-user." Figures. Of course Chrom gets the weapon advantage for his battle. But then, he also had to fight 'Marth' later. Or was that still a thing? "You should get going," she said suddenly. "You don't want to be late to your match."

"Right."

"Good luck, Zach."

"Thanks," I smiled, and left the room, tightening my headband. I walked to the grated door that led to the arena. I could see Chrom fighting against the axe-user inside. The prince was having trouble, as his foe was clumsy with his hefty weapon. Chrom was holding back, it seemed. I was sure he didn't aim to kill, while the fighter was swinging with abandon. Right. I had to remind myself that there would be no death today. Force them into submission, spill blood if necessary, but don't kill them.

An eruption of cheer snaps me from my thoughts, and I shake them away. The fighter was on the ground, his axe several yards away and Falchion at his throat, like Frederick did with the knight. The cheer escalates for a moment as Chrom raises Falchion above his head, light glinting off of it and making the blade seem to shine. Chrom made his way to the door and it started to rise with a grinding noise. "Good job, Chrom," I said, and clasped his hand when he got close. "That's three wins, then. So even if I lose, three of you are moving on to next round!"

"Thanks," said the prince. "But don't think of it like that. Say that it gives the opportunity for all four of us to progress." Yeah, that would be the more optimistic outlook. "Good luck out there," he said, clutching a hand to my shoulder. I felt the infinite charisma flow from his smile as he did, radiating like the light from the sun, which I didn't hesitate to bask in.

I blinked and thanked him, and he walked away. What the hell was that? I shook my head and took a deep breath, walking out just as my opponent did. I…he looked familiar. I squinted, trying to get a better look at him through the bright light coming from above us. He DID look familiar. It was that asshole guard from that night when I slept in the library! I recognized his bored expression and his hairstyle wasn't something I'd forget. Ohoho, you know what? I was looking forward to this match. I wasn't even mad anymore, but it was the principle. The guy was abrasive, and I was looking forward to knocking him on his ass.

At least, that's what I was thinking before he pulled the spear from his back. I blanched when I saw it, and my hopes dropped, dwindling. "Aw, for fuck's sake," I muttered. The cheers drowned out my voice, but I drew my sword and settled into my usual stance. Just my fuckin' luck.

Dylan POV~

I sat in the stands, arms crossed across my chest. Chrom's match was rather boring. The prince held the advantage the entire match. It shouldn't have even taken that long. When he won, the cheering was immense, and only increased when he turned to face the crowd with Falchion reflecting the light from the torches. Sumia was among the most enthusiastic cheerers, jumping to her feet and pumping her fist while crying out at the top of her lungs. When Chrom left the Arena, she dropped back down to her seat.

Zach was next. "That's three wins," Lissa cheered next to me. Frederick was sat next to her, silent and staring down at the sandy arena floor, his hands on his lap. "When Zach wins, all four of our fighters will have won the first round!" True enough. Though there were a lot more matches to go. I saw 'Marth', Lon'qu, and a few other intimidating figures standing on the sidelines, watching the matches. I suspected they were competing after the Shepherds, and I had no doubt they would proceed to the next round. Our Shepherds had their work cut out for them later, considering how much of a breeze this round had been so far.

Zach and his opponent stepped out onto the floor at almost the same time. I froze when I saw what he was up against; Zach's opponent was a lance-wielder. That left him with a disadvantage from the start, and the soldier carried himself with no hesitation or break in his stride, holding a calm demeanor that showed he knew what he was doing, or at the very least wasn't playing around.

When the soldier pulled the spear from his back, I could see Zach's shock. His hand rose slowly to grab his weapon, but he held the blade steadily once it was free. "Good," I muttered, leaning forward on my knees, hands folded in front of my mouth. He had to keep up a strong front, even in the face of this disadvantage. The soldier wasn't impressed, gripping his spear with both hands and pointing it at Zach.

Zach and the soldier began to circle each other. The room had gone silent again, anticipation building as the two kept their slow dance going. Suddenly, Zach leaped forward and swung down using his momentum. The soldier knocked the strike aside with a heavy swing of his spear, then lashed out with his fist. The blow connected, and Zach reeled.

The soldier stabbed at him, and Zach narrowly avoided it. The soldier kept going, jabbing and poking in an onslaught that kept Zach on edge, pushing him further from the center of the pit. Zach found himself at the wall, back up against it. The soldier wound back for another stab, and Zach took the opportunity, tackling him to the ground.

Both of them scrambled around, punching and pushing at the other. The soldier won the little altercation, kicking Zach away and lunging for his spear. The soldier recovered first, getting to his feet. Zach grabbed his sword and hopped to his feet as well, but not in time to avoid the soldier's jab.

The spear cut across Zach stomach, and I heard Lissa gasp. My leg was bouncing in anticipation as we watched the fight. Zach made a desperate flurry of swings that pushed the soldier a few feet away as the myrmidon gathered his bearings. The cut along his belly was bleeding, but the pace was slow enough to not be of too much immediate concern. But it would slow him down. The soldier didn't give him any more time, running in and stabbing with that motion.

Zach moved at an unbelievable speed, just as fast as the day we met on the Longfort. In a spinning whirlwind, Zach danced around the jab and jumped to the air with a slash. It connected! Zach's sword sliced upward, cutting along the soldier's torso. The soldier stumbled backward, holding his spear in a loose grip and clutching at his new wound.

Zach's wound was bleeding worse now. His rapid movement and twisting couldn't' have helped. He was almost doubled over, clutching at his gut. His breath was so labored, I could see his chest heaving in rhythm. Even now that the soldier was wounded, too, I feared this battle was coming to a close, and not in the way we wanted.

They moved toward each other, and Zach swung at the soldier's head. He had a moment of hesitation, I noticed, and his sword twisted mid-swing so that the flat of the blade was flying toward the soldier. Zach's hesitation gave the soldier all the time he needed, and he stepped behind the myrmidon. In a quick move, the soldier dropped his lance and Zach was caught off-guard, pulled to the ground, and put into a hold.

Zach struggled against the soldier's grasp, shouting and straining for freedom, but to no avail. Eventually, he gave up and tapped onto the soldier's arm. They disengaged, and the soldier plucked his lance from the ground. He leaned down toward Zach, who was lying on the ground, wholly defeated and seemed to say something before walking back toward his entrance. Zach stood up after a second and grabbed his weapon, storming from the Arena as best he could while clutching at his stomach.

Zach POV~

"Hey," Sumia said, and I was met with a wave from her, Lissa, Stahl and Dylan. I returned the wave, but my face remained in a scowl. "How are you doing?"

"Well," I said, settling into my seat and wincing when pain spiked from my stomach. "Let's see. I'm in a lot of fuckin' pain, I lost my goddamn match, and I don't get to continue to the next motherfuckin' round because I had to fight some dumbass lance-bitch in the first round." I took a deep breath, and let it out as a half-sigh, half-groan. "So not so good." I had managed to keep my voice from rising, but my language was more than enough to earn stares from everyone around me. The stare that I received from Sumia was… I felt it. She looked hurt and a little scared? My anger subsided as I glanced down at my feet then back up to her. "I'm sorry, Sumia, I—" I sighed again. "I didn't mean to lash out that's my bad."

"N-no, I understand," she said, turning her attention back to the Arena. Gods, now I felt bad, like a different kind of shitty. I paused at that thought. I said "goddamn" a moment ago, not "gods-damn". I didn't think anyone caught it, but a slip-up like that could be detrimental. My eyes lingered on Sumia for a moment longer, settling from the scowl I had to a furrowed brow.

I couldn't be in this place any more right now. I needed to walk. I said just that, and stood up suddenly. I edged past Sumia, apologizing again, and made my way out of there. I took a deep breath when I was out. The Arena was suffocating. I didn't know when it had gotten so hot in there, but the restlessness in my legs was overwhelming, much like it usually was when my temper had flared. Even though my anger had faded.

The cold, fresh air of the courtyard was, well, refreshing. It was always hard to be angry in the cold for me, unlike the humid heat of the Arena, and in the snow-speckled wind of Regna Ferox, it was cold. I suppose I literally needed to cool off sometimes.

I heard the clacking of footsteps against the stone coming from behind me, and I whirled around to see Robin coming toward me. "I heard about your match," she said. After my match had finished, I went straight to the healer they had there. Once I was mostly healed up—they needed to save heal charges, so what wasn't fixed was remedied with bandages—I made my way to the stands. "It's unfortunate."

"Tell me about it," I said, squinting as the wind picked up. "How'd you know I was out here?"

"I was bringing Frederick to his next match when I saw you walking out here," she explained. "I was a little concerned."

"I'm touched," I said, smiling, "but there isn't anything to worry about. I kind of exploded at Sumia, and then I felt bad because she just asked how I was, so I escaped out here for some fresh air." I blew through the topic, shrugging afterward, putting it in a less serious light. I didn't meet her eyes, but I wasn't avoiding her gaze either. "Anyway, you have a match soon, don't you? Get going," I said, looking up at her. "I'll only be a moment longer."

She hesitated, but nodded and went inside. Like I said, I only stood outside for a moment longer and then followed her path down the stone corridor. I made my way back up to the stands. Sully was there now, and had taken the seat between Sumia and Stahl, so I sat to Sumia's left. Frederick's match was still going on, and it looked like a very even match. He was fighting the soldier that beat me, and was pushing him back. It looked like Freddy was going to win this match. The soldier held his lance at an angle, the tip pointed to the ground.

What happened next caught me by surprise. Frederick went for a stab, and the soldier ducked underneath, bringing his own lance underneath and hooking it around Freddy's shoulder. The soldier then flung around Frederick and spun the lance, sweeping the bigger knight's feet out from under him in a very fluid motion that made me feel a lot better about losing to this guy. Frederick lost the match with the soldier's lance pressed to his Adam's apple. They departed the arena at the same time, but Frederick was displeased, as the soldier didn't return his bow.

I cast a glance at Sumia. She was staring down at the Arena with a frown. I opened my mouth to speak to her, planning to apologize again—I felt like I needed to—before Sully yelled past her. "Hey, Zach," said the cavalier, grinning. "I heard you had quite the outburst after your match, one that had a whole lot of cussing in it?"

"Yeah," I said sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head. "I was…frustrated, to say the least." I turned to Sumia, then. "Sorry again. I had no reason to blow up at you. That was completely unfair." Before she could respond, the gates grinded open and Robin stepped out. Her counterpart was… Chrom? Wait, why were they fighting this early? How was this tournament set up?

I could see the smile on their faces, offset by the determined look in their eyes. Robin held a tome in her left hand and an iron sword in her right, while Chrom of course had Falchion. When the initial cheering happened, the Shepherds were split. The majority—including Stahl, Vaike, and, of course, Sumia—cheered for Chrom while the Lissa, Sully, and I cheered for Robin. Dylan was silent, and I had no idea where Krystal was.

Even though I was rooting for Robin, I had no idea who would win. Chrom was more experienced in swordplay and was no joke when it came to fighting, but Robin had her magic and tactical brilliance. Whoever won would have to face the soldier next round if the tournament continued this trend. But then… where did 'Marth' come in? I leaned back and asked Dylan about it, not wanting to give my future knowledge away.

"I don't know," he said, "but I can see her standing with Lon'qu over there." He pointed to the innermost ring of the stands, close to Chrom's left. I couldn't see anything definite, but I there was a blue shape in that area.

Chrom started the match off like I expected him to—hard and fast. He came at Robin with a flurry of slashes that she met, their swords clanging off of each other, sparks flying. At one point, they clashed, but the swords didn't bounce off. They stuck, and Chrom pushed down on Robin, pushing her at the ground. She rolled out of the way and shot a charge of Thunder at him. It hit him, but didn't slow him much.

Robin avoided his next strike, then took the offensive. She slashed at him more times than I bothered to count, and he blocked every strike. I wondered why she wasn't using her magic. Her tome book was out and open, but held to the side as she delivered each attack. That was weird. Her magic was a huge advantage over Chrom, so why wasn't she using it very much?

With a decisive blow, Chrom swung Falchion upward and knocked the iron sword from Robin's hand, sending it flying into the air. Robin took this opportunity to hop backward and point her tome to the ceiling. Chrom ran at her, trying to stop whatever she was planning, but wasn't fast enough. Robin jumped into the air and raised her free hand. In it, lightning formed a long-pole shape.

The tactician threw the lightning spear at Chrom, and he leaped over the fucker! He somersaulted mid-air and slammed into Robin when she landed, pinning her to the ground and raising Falchion as if to finish her. Damn, that was some serious anime shit, dude. I was disappointed at the outcome, but cheered any way. Despite how fast the match went, it was really cool to see.

Chrom helped Robin to her feet and they shook hands, exchanging words that I couldn't hear, then walking out the doors they came in. "That was cool," I said, grinning. Now Chrom had to fight the soldier. Someone had to beat this guy. I would not be happy if he won.

There was an intermission. Both of the combatants would be given time to recuperate and prepare for the match. During that time, Robin and Frederick found their way up to us, sitting behind me and to the left. There was talk of another match after this one, a true finale, pitting the best of each against each other. Chatter commenced amongst the Shepherds, though, and I didn't think any of them heard it.

Chrom was merciless in combat, especially now. Maybe his determination was kicked into high-gear to defeat this foe. He delivered each jab and slash in rapid succession, offering almost no room for respite. The prince was on top of the soldier immediately, too, and the match looked to be in his hands from the beginning. The match didn't seem right, to me though. The soldier never made a move on Chrom. True, he wasn't given many opportunities to do so, but the chances he was given were never seized, all squandered. He didn't make the match super-easy for Chrom, but he never took offensive and stayed with his guard up, until Falchion cut cleanly through his lance's shaft, at which point he dropped the pieces and forfeited.

Chrom seemed to notice, too, eyeing the soldier as he walked out. There were murmurs throughout the crowd, but none that overpowered the clamorous yell that followed the victory. Chrom walked out, and taking his place was a large man that I recognized. Then again, the big bald khan would be hard to forget.

"Alright, alright," Basilio shouted, waving his hands in a downward motion, trying to quiet the audience. "It seems we have our second finalist!" That surely silenced the cheering. Everybody looked around, all confused, asking what the khan meant. Basilio cleared his throat before continuing. "As some of you know, this was only half of the tournament, the tournament to decide the true champion for the Khan of the East. My champion was decided yesterday, in a tournament of similar fashion. Now, there will be another short break, and then the two champions will do battle!"

His final words brought another roar from the crowd. "I wonder who Chrom's final opponent is," Stahl said.

"Do you think its Lucy?" I asked Dylan, leaning back to talk to him. His eyes turned to the crowd, scanning it.

Then he nodded. "She isn't by Lon'qu anymore. She must be the other finalist. It would make sense," he said. He was right. Now we got to see the finale of the Feroxi tournament, a battle between Chrom and his time traveling daughter. No one beside 'Marth', Dylan, possibly Krystal, and I knew how insane this battle would actually be.

Sure enough, when the gates opened next, Chrom stepped out and across from him, 'Marth' in her mask. I never really understood how that was a butterfly mask. I'd heard that somewhere, but it never made sense to me. Basilio cleared his throat again. "This match is between Chrom, prince of Ylisse," half of the crowd erupted at the prince's name, "and a man by the name of Marth, the enigmatic blade!" The other half erupted now, and both sides were cheering. Basilio waved for their silence, and the uproar died down. The West-khan walked to the edge of the arena and pulled himself over the lowest wall, taking a seat next to Lon'qu. A gust blew through the arena, putting out all of the torches in the ground, so all of the light was coming from the sandy arena floor. "Let the battle to decide the next reigning khan begin!" he shouted.

Chrom and 'Marth' pulled their respective Falchions from their sheathes simultaneously. It started out like the game showed it, with them both levelling their swords at each other. They went through all of the actions, doing the whole front-flipping slash thing and clashing in the middle. I admit, it was way different witnessing the ordeal in real life. Seeing a person leap straight into the air then somersault at an angle was surreal, and I had to blink to make sure I saw it right. People were not meant to have that much air control.

For the majority of the battle, Chrom and 'Marth' were mirrors of each other, doing the same movements, the same recoveries, the same jabs. It grew difficult to differentiate between them, and once I had to remind myself which one was Chrom and which was 'Marth'. I just had to look for which one was missing a sleeve, though.

As the battle went on, Chrom grew to have the advantage. His stronger build gave him the advantage and it occurred to me in the middle of the match that 'Marth' was only like 15 at the time. Chrom was roughly 17-19 I assumed, so that was quite a matchup. It really put into perspective how talented 'Marth' was with a sword.

The battle lasted a long time, by far the longest yet. Chrom was beginning to wear on 'Marth', though. I could see her movements slowing, and when she was stood in her stance, her grip faltered a little, and Parrallel Falchion's tip angled slightly to the ground. In the middle of one of their many fleeting clashes, Chrom let out a roar and swung with more strength, sending Parallel Falchion sailing through the air. 'Marth' hopped back, then took a knee in front of Chrom. There were words between them, I could tell, then 'Marth stood up and walked over to grab her sword.

The uproar returned, filled with more excitement and fervor than after any of the previous matches. It was deafening, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a part of it. My throat burned, but the hype from having our side win fueled me. All of the Shepherds stood, pumping their fists and yelling as loud as they could. Even Dylan cheered, this time. Chrom twirled Falchion and stabbed it into the ground, then raised his fist. I couldn't help the smile on my face, especially when I saw the smile on his.

"Well fought!" Flavia said. Robin, Frederick, Lissa, Chrom and I were gathered with her in the circular room we had first met the Khan in. It had been troublesome getting out of the Arena, what with how packed the halls were as everyone flooded out. Most of the Shepherds had returned to their rooms or to their respective hobbies. Chrom had told everyone that we were to stay another day, then leave just after dawn. After that, he rounded up Freddy, Robin, and myself to meet with Flavia. "You have my respect, prince."

"And your aid?" Chrom asked, crossing his arms.

"Guaranteed," Flavia said, flashing a smile and resting her hand on her hip. She wasn't wearing any armour, but still had her sword at her waist. Always prepared, I supposed. "Ylisse will get the soldiers she needs."

"Thank you," Chrom said, grinning now, too.

"I should thank _you_ ," the khan said with a sigh, shaking her head. "I haven't held power in what feels like ages. So," her grin returned, stronger than before, and she chuckled, "tonight, we will celebrate!" Flavia marched away, pumping her fists, excited for the party tonight.

"Bah," Basilio huffed, walking past her and shaking his head. "Any excuse for a party and Flavia doesn't hesitate to throw it." He crossed his arms and stood in front of us, and I only now realized how _massive_ this guy was. Like, I was barely shoulder height to the guy, and I'm fairly average height, leaning more toward the tall side now. Not only that, but his fuckin' arms were probably the size of my thighs. _But you can call me Tiffany_ ," I thought to myself, and snickered a little.

"I'm sorry," Chrom said, arcing a brow, "have we met?"

Basilio smirked, betraying what he was about to say. "I'm the West-Khan you so rudely removed from power!" He chuckled after. "You're handy with a sword, boy. I thought for sure I'd picked the stronger man."

Chrom seized the opportunity to try and gleam some information about the enigmatic blade that he fought. "What do you know about him?"

"You mean that 'Marth' character?" Basilio scoffed. "He's just some sellsword with delusions of grandeur." I mean, yeah, I suppose that isn't wrong. Changing the future would be a delusion of grandeur, yeah? Or was it changing the past. Ah, shit. Basilio continued. "All I know is that he turned up one eve and knocked my old champion flat. It was love at first sight," he said, fake-swooning before laughing. "Ha, I'm far too old for such things. Anyway, he's gone now. Fled the moment the tournament ended."

"He's so dark and mysterious," Lissa interjected, then sighed.

"What are you, gay?" I muttered, then laughed at my own joke/reference. When I remembered that 'Marth' was in fact a girl, my laughter exploded and I doubled over, clutching my stomach.

"What?" Lissa asked, looking at me with the most confused look in her eyes, only serving to escalate my laughter. She glanced at Chrom and Robin, then back to Chrom. "What did he say?" she asked her brother, and he shrugged. Lissa held her perplexed gaze, Chrom stared at me with an eyebrow raised, Robin with the corner of her mouth quirked up slightly, and Frederick with his brow furrowed, face settled into a scowl.

Basilio gave me a strange look, too, but decided that now would be a good time to shift the conversation. At this point, my laughter had died down to small giggling, and my stomach hurt. "Anyway, boy, I have a present for you." With that, Lon'qu walked in from some shadowy place. So damn edgy, so damn cool. My fellow myrmidon remained silent, a stoicism plastered on his face that matched the one Frederick usually held. "This is Lon'qu," Basilio said. "My former champion. He isn't much for talking, mind you, but he's peerless with a sword. At least as good as Marth. To be honest, I can't figure out how Marth bested him so quickly."

It's weird how Lon'qu was so skilled, and so were the rest of the Shepherds. They were better than 'Marth' was at this time, at least some of them, even though she fought to survive in a post-apocalyptic future. I didn't get how that worked. I mean hell, if she was strong enough to fend off hordes of Risen in her time, wouldn't a full team of Shepherds be plenty capable of taking them down? Maybe it was just game convenience, as an overpowered 'Marth' would be impossible to best, but… Ah, whatever.

I shook my thoughts away to see a shocked Lissa looking at Chrom. "What did I say?" Lon'qu had a deeper frown, and his hand was resting on the hilt of his killing edge.

Basilio burst out laughing. "Let's just say that ladies tend to put Lon'qu on edge. Nonetheless, he is capable. I think he even has the making of a khan." Then the West-khan's voice lowered, and he turned to the myrmidon. Whatever he said clearly displeased Lon'qu, and it was reminiscent of how a father might speak to his son, I thought. "Anyway," Basilio continued, clearing his throat, "he's your man now. Consider him West Ferox's contribution to the Ylissean cause."

Chrom looked ready to protest, but I cut in. "We'd be grateful to have such a skilled swordsman," I said, taking a small bow. "Thank you, Basilio." He nodded, then with a few more words to Lon'qu and the rest of us, and a handshake between the two men, the West-Khan departed.

The six of us stood in silence for a moment, then Lon'qu cleared his throat. "If there is nothing else you need of me, I will take my leave." None of us said anything, and the myrmidon did just that. He took off silently. You know, it would be nice to have a tutor that fights so well with a sword. I would have to ask him sometime. Hopefully he would agree to teach me.

"What did you call the West-Khan, Zach?" Chrom asked after Lon'qu had left our view completely. "Basilio?"

"Yeah, that's his name."

"How did you know? I didn't hear him say it at any time?" Robin piped in, and now I was the center of attention.

"I heard it a while back on Valm," I lied, silently applauding myself for the quick-BS. Then I cracked a smile. "But that it isn't important now. We have more pressing matters to attend." Confused looks met mine. "Why, my friends, have you already forgotten? We've a party to go to, and we need some sharp clothes to wear!"

 **AN: aaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAND SCENE! Another long break in between chapters, I know. Almost two weeks again. I apologize, truly. But I mean, I was almost done with this chapter for more than a week, actually. Where the little time-skip between the end of the tourney and the meeting between Flavia and the Shepherds is? I was stuck at that point for a while, and just never had the time or motivation to do it.**

 **When it comes to the actual chapter, I don't have much to say, other than that it is the longest chapter yet. Roughly 6,000 words. That and this is the first perspective shift in the story, and it most certainly will not be the last. I hope it meets your expectations and uh, well, if you're reading this, thanks for reading this far and I apologize for another long-ass Author's Note. But I just have a few more things.**

 **First, Child Units. Something that I have been thinking about since I decided to use your OC's was pairings between the OC's, and then if there would be children units between them. But, I didn't want to put two OC's together without the consent of their respective owners, as I didn't want to disappoint you guys. I feel like I'm being too paranoid, like most of you wouldn't care either way, but I would like to know. So either leave a review or PM me and tell me what y'all think.**

 **Second, romance will be afoot soon enough in the story. However, I am inexperienced in writing the subject, despite how much I love it. So, if I don't live up to your expectations, you have been warned. I will try my best, though. I plan to drop hints about who I plan for Zach to pair up with, both subtle and blatant, so keep an eye out, and see if you can guess who it is before shit goes down.**

 **Now that is all. Thank you all again for reading my story, and thanks even more for those of you who read all the way to the end of my ramblings. Keep my thaaaangs in consideration, and hit me up with a review or PM if you've time.**

 **Now without further delay, farewell. All of the Oats have left the building.**


	8. Chapter 7: Speech Impediment

**AN at the end. Sorry for the wait.**

 **I don't own anything.**

I had time before the party to go to the washroom and get cleaned up, considered I was dirty, bloody and grimy from the tournament. I had Robin tie my hair up and I tried to help her tie hers into a ponytail. I did a pretty good job, if I was any judge, even if it was a little messy. Then the two of us met up with Chrom and Frederick, and the four of us made our way to the party together. It wasn't quite what I expected.

Instead of a loud, boisterous party that filled an entire dining hall with tables upon tables of food and booze, the tournament celebration was a small get together taking place in a room probably four times the size of my own but no more. The only people there were Flavia, Basilio, the four of us and the other competitors. It was quiet, too, the only noise being the chatter of the guests, and the room was dimly lit. There were a half-dozen tables, all of which had candelabras with four candles each, all of which had a small orange flame dancing on the wick.

Flavia and Basilio were talking, Basilio with a calm posture and Flavia animatedly, her hands waving. There were smiles on their faces, however, so I wasn't concerned, especially when they both burst out laughing. Chrom grinned at the sight and meanders to them, Frederick at his side, the knight's arms folded at his back. "So we haven't really talked," Robin said suddenly, and I almost jumped. I looked at her and was met with a serious but somber look.

"About what?"

She pulled a seat out from a table and I did the same. She sat straight, her hands set on her lap while I sat leaning forward, my elbows on my knees and holding up my head. She looked at me for a moment, simply observing while I met her gaze for as long as I could. Her brown eyes were doing that thing where they scanned every detail of whatever they were looking at. I had no idea what she was looking for, and was about to ask when she finally spoke. "Are you doing alright?"

I arced my brow. "What?" Where was this going? "I'm doing fine, why?" I gave her a half smile when I said it, hoping to lift the mood of the conversation. I really hated conversations like this. I'd had way too many back home.

"Earlier today when you had your outburst, I admit I was worried." Her eyes never left mine, which made the situation worse. "I mean, you seemed so distressed. I just wanted to check up on you and make sure you were doing alright." I could have laughed. And this was the time she chose to do that? I briefly wondered if she thought of that, or if the thought just occurred to her.

"Robin, I promise you that I'm fine." I gave her a full smile this time, and placed my hand on her shoulder. "I just have a short temper sometimes, especially when it comes to my own shortcomings."

"And that's it?"

"If I was upset for another reason, it was probably because I had cussed Sumia out and felt like kind of a dick for it."

She nodded. "Alright, I believe you," she said after a moment of silence. I looked around the room now. The amount of people had nearly doubled. Were these more challengers? They probably were. "Are you planning to talk to her later?"

"I am," I said. I knew that I'd already apologized, but I felt as though the Pegasus knight deserved an explanation, too. I don't like having outbursts like that around my closest of friends, let alone someone as meek and unfamiliar as Sumia. Actually, that would be a pretty good reason to leave this party early, too. Of course I would wait a little longer, otherwise I would be expected to come back or something stupid.

We were silent for a time after that, each of us looking of in a different direction, simply overseeing the crowd. I would occasionally cast a glance at Robin, for no reason other than to see if she was doing the same. After what felt like a long time in that prolonged silence, she met my gaze and chuckled. "Are you not going to go out there and mingle?" I grinned and shook my head, to which she asked, "Why not?"

"Striking up conversations isn't my thing," I shrugged. "I leave that to conversationalists." I leaned back on my chair and looked back over the crowd; Chrom and Frederick were talking to the knight and fighter that they'd fought in the Arena. Chrom was the only one with a head of hair that shade of blue, so 'Marth' was nowhere to be seen. I didn't expect her to show up, but I've been wrong plenty of times before. "But I will stoke the fires of any conversation as long as someone else lights it."

"I see."

"What about you?" I asked, turning back to her. "Are you going to go out there and talk to anybody? Not that I mind your company, though. Just saying."

"I think I will stay right here," the tactician answered, crossing her legs. "It's easier to observe people from the sidelines sometimes. Besides, I'm not one for parties." I appreciated Robin, if only for the fact that she was the person that I probably related to the most. Chrom was charismatic and trusting to a fault, Frederick was the opposite: stern and paranoid, Lissa was mischievous, Sully was adamant and bull-headed, Stahl was friendly and agreeable, Vaike was chatty and carefree, Miriel was a textbook genius, Kellam was invisible, Virion was flirtatious and charming, Sumia was indulgent in her books, Maribelle was somewhat stuck-up, and Lon'qu was stoic and edgy, to put their quirks in simple terms. Yet Robin was… somewhere in the middle; like a mixture of all of their traits, but tempered down. She was smart, into books, friendly, to list a few, all hidden behind a calm face and chocolate-brown eyes. I felt as though that was where I sat, too, but perhaps leaning toward a different end of the spectrum as Robin. "You messed up my ponytail, by the way," the tactician said, snapping me from my thoughts. She pointed to the messy strands atop her head for emphasis.

"In my defense," I said, "I told you I was bad at it. I always miss a lot of hair. Yet you insisted that I at least try."

"I overestimated you," she said with a smirk, undoing the calamity that I had caused. I tried to watch as she redid the ponytail, but lost focus and zoned out. When I came back to attention, she was done, her eyebrows raised in a question. "How did I do?"

"Good," I said, giving her a thumbs-up. There were fewer stray hairs than when I had put her hair up, so it looked cleaner and over all better. Then I saw her eyes flick up, and something tapped my shoulder. I turned to see the chest of someone wearing a black tunic, and moved my gaze to look at their face. In front of me was the soldier who whupped my ass in the tournament and even managed to defeat Frederick. "Hello?" I said, turning my entire body to better look at him.

His face didn't bear the same bored expression as before. His eyes were brighter, wider, and he wasn't frowning. "Hello," he said, bowing. "I don't believe we have propop—I mean, properly met. My name is Emile Anderson."

"Zach."

Robin was a bit more hesitant in her reply, taking her time to size Emile up. Her eyes had taken on the hard, studious look again. "Robin," she said, a few seconds after me, flashing a smile at the soldier. It didn't look like she trusted him.

"Yes, I—" Emile clamped his mouth shut. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard before talking again. "I heard your names at the tournament. Anyway," he said, closing his eyes and shaking his head, "that isn't important. What I'm here to talk about is my joining of your ragataga, er, rata, ugh," he groaned, the spoke the next few words slowly. "Your ragtag group of warriors." I heard him curse himself under his breath.

Robin narrowed her eyes at him, but raised her eyebrows. "What makes you think you'll be able to join the Shepherds?"

Emile pulled another chair out from the table and flipped it around before sitting down, so that the back of the chair was between his legs. He folded his arms on the back and rested his head on his forearms, saying, "You've seen me fight. We both know that it would be an advantage to have me on your side." His face was blank as he spoke, his tone level, ridding the statement of the arrogance that the words used suggested. He was stating facts, and he was right. A swift lance-user like Emile would be a boon that I wouldn't pass up.

But I wasn't as smart as Robin, nor as calculating. "You will be on our side regardless," the tactician said, looking Emile dead in the eye. "unless of course you plan to desert or turn traitor when this war starts, in which case we could arrest you right now." Emile blanched, but Robin wasn't done. "Excluding the rest of that, it takes more than skill to be brought into the Shepherds. It takes a desire to fight for those who are too weak to defend themselves, to fight for justice at the expense of your own life. If I let you join, which isn't even _my_ decision to make, what assurance have you given me that you will stick with our group through tough times and not turn, or that you will protect the helpless?"

I decided to chime in. "As far as we know, you could just ditch at a crucial moment, costing us lives that we hold dear, lives of our comrades, who are like a family. That is a risk that would be foolish to take."

Emile was slack-jawed, eyes wide. I had no doubt that he was a smart guy, but he couldn't compare to Robin. "You're right," he said after a time, nodding. "I haven't given you any reason to trust me. But I _have_ fought to protect the people. When I arrived here, I helped the border guards repel a Plegian bandit attack. In return, I was brought on as a participant in the tournament because Flavia was impressed. Ask her yourself, if you'd like."

Robin let her eyes linger on him for a moment, then she turned to me and whispered in my ear, "I'm going to check up on that, but he said that he arrived here. Ask him where he is from and tell me later." Why was she so suspicious of Emile? I was going to question him still, but I would have trusted him a long time ago. Though that is likely why she is the tactician and I am not: she doesn't like to take chances. But even then, she wasn't this suspicious of Dylan or Krystal, one of which was a birdman and the other was a dark mage. I didn't understand how her mind worked.

Regardless, I nodded, and she stood up, winding her way through the room until she was at Flavia's side. I watched until I saw Flavia glance over at us. "Where are you from?" I said suddenly.

"What?"

"You said you arrived here," I said, leaning forward and clasping my hands in front of my mouth. "And you don't exactly talk like you're from Ferox, so where are you from?" Honestly, I was expecting him to immediately have genuine answer at hand, saying that he was from Ylisse or something. I would have bought it, too.

Instead, he said nothing, sitting there with his mouth opening and closing like a fish's, words escaping him. "I…" My eyes widened when he failed to come up with a response. I could see Robin approaching from behind him, her hands in the pockets of her cloak. A serious look flashed across his face, eyes narrowing, then he lunged forward and pulled me very close to him. "Look, I don't recognize you. You aren't from the game, are you?" Oh _shit_. I shook my head quickly. This was a conversation that needed to end quickly, if it was going where I thought it was, so Robin wouldn't hear anything that she didn't need to. "Good," Emile said, sighing. "Then you're from Earth, too, yes?" I nodded. So many earthlings recently. If this trend kept up, we were going to have a mess on our hands. "What can I tell Robin to convince her more?"

"Um, okay," I think for a moment, my eyes darting along the floor before I flick them back up at him. "I got it. Say you're from Plegia, and that you're a refugee or something."

Emile nodded, saying, "Yeah, yeah, I can work with that thanks." Damn, when did I get so good at bullshitting? He clapped me on the shoulder and I nodded, too, separating from him. This was not the outcome I was expecting tonight. I was planning to come to this little party for a few hours and head back to my room, probably talking to Sumia before I went to bed. But now we were hopefully leaving with a new recruit, a skilled one at that.

"He's from Plegia," I said casually when Robin sat back down, and she froze, whirling around to face Emile. "Wait," I held up my hands at her, "hear him out."

The tactician crossed her arms and tilted her chin up, expecting. "I'm on the run," Emile said, his face completely straight as he told the blatant lie. "I ran from Plegia after—"he looked away, holding a hand up, his chest rising in a deep breath. "I ran after my parents were executed for refusing to let me be taken away to the military." Emile kept his gaze low, and I saw Robin's facial features soften, a soft "oh" escaped her lips. "So, yeah," Emile said, "I'm not exactly on their side."

"What did Flavia say?" I asked, though I got the feeling I already knew the answer.

"Flavia said you were telling the truth," Robin said to Emile. "Even so," the tactician continued, "it isn't up to me who we recruit. But I will bring it up to Chrom, and if anyone would be willing to let in a complete stranger, it would be our prince." She got up and walked away, and Emile looked at me with a smile.

I watched her talk to Chrom and Frederick. Frederick looked wholly displeased about having another mysterious recruit, one from Plegia no less, but Chrom was likely more than willing to take in someone with a grudge against the Mad King. "I think you're in," I told Emile, grinning.

I knocked on Sumia's door twice, hoping she was still awake. I had stayed at the party maybe another hour. In truth, I'd almost forgot about talking to her, and meandered back to my room after I'd left. I only remembered when my hand touched the knob to my door, and I walked all the way to her room.

The door opened slowly at first, and I saw her peak through the small opening before opening the door all the way. "Oh, good evening, Zach," she said. The Pegasus knight was wearing a lavender nightgown, and her brown curls fell loosely over her shoulders. "What is it that you need?" Okay, so one thing I had yet to mention: Sumia just looked _soft._ Like, gah, I didn't know how to explain. If you know what I mean, you know what I mean. Her face looked soft and smooth, the peaceful look in her eyes, and the way her hair curled so gently in oppose to the way mine was a torrent of curls and knots.

"I came here to apologize again," I said, "for blowing up at you earlier."

"Oh, it's fine," she said. "You already apologized twice. I understand that you were angry, and that is how you vented."

"Yeah but, look, can I come in?" Sumia nodded, stepping inside and closing the door after me. I stay standing while she takes a seat on her bed. "I know that I've apologized already. I just, I feel like you deserve an explanation at the very least. It isn't as simple as me being angry because I lost. Well, not solely because of it being a lost. See, the way I think at things, I constantly worry about how other people are impacted by and view it, right? I try to do things that trouble the least amount of people. And my loss in the first round, I was angry at, well, myself, mostly. I was upset that I messed up, so early on, putting our victory at stake. I felt like a failure, and I was," I paused, letting out a huff. "I was scared that everyone would look at me like that, and be disappointed, and I just kind of lost it. I know now that it wouldn't have mattered anyway, what with how the tourney was set up, but I didn't at the time. I troubled everyone else, and I hate putting more work on people because I fucked up."

"And then when I exploded at you, I troubled you. You hadn't done anything wrong, you were just checking up on me. You didn't deserve my outburst, and that's the reason I left right after. I felt like an ass, and still do." I sighed. "My point is, I can be like a child sometimes. I worry too much, and, yeah." At some point, I'd begun to pace. I found myself taking measured steps around the room, eyes pointed to the floor. I shrugged. That was probably the first time I'd actually explained that. It was easier than it ought to be, but that wasn't a bad thing.

"I think I know what you mean," Sumia said. She had her arms crossed just above her stomach, her gaze contemplative as it darted back and forth. "I'm so clumsy, that I always mess up, and I feel the same way."

I smile at her. We were quite a pair, what with our books and our mistakes. "Thank you for understanding," I said. It was a weight off my chest, to at least have talked to her. "Anyway, we have to get up pretty early tomorrow, and you're probably tired, so I'll talk to you later?" I stood up and walked to the door.

"Yes," she said. "See you tomorrow. Good night."

"Night."

 **AN: It's been awhile, I know. But I mean, with Ultra Sun and Moon coming out, that took up a lot of my time, considering I had a hard time putting it down, and then Fire Emblem: Heroes got an update (Fjorm is just precious, so adorable), and I've been given so many books to read, as well as my other writing projects that aren't fanfics.**

 **I know that this chapter is short; I'm pretty sure it's the shortest one, actually, and I'm sorry. I had it halfway done about a week ago, and it would have been longer than this, but then I lost it, and hard to start from scratch because I didn't remember how it went. At that point, I just wanted to get done with this chapter.**

 **I sincerely hope to get the next chapter out quickly. Just know that I almost never plan my chapters, I just wing it and see where it goes, plugging in things that I think will work. On that note, more of you guys need to tell me what is and isn't working, by which I mean, more of you need to write reviews! I have like 3 or 4 reviewers, all of whom review damn near every chapter I post (just so you few know, every time I post, I eagerly away your reviews, moreso than I should), but I know I get like ten times that in people that actually read this. I'm not complaining, but I need to know what you guys think. I swear this was more eloquently put in my head, but eh.**

 **Also, I am going to be choosing two reviewers to create a special character, and then I will pick the one out of those two that I like the most, so there's that.**

 **At that, I have naught else to say.**

 **All of the Oats have left the building.**


	9. Chapter 8: The Exalt and the King

**I don't own much, and none of it is Fire Emblem.**

I still didn't like marching, especially in a hurry like this. At least we were out of the biting cold and snow. Gods, I can't believe I forgot about this part of the game.

Chrom received a letter from Emmeryn late last night. The courier had apparently run up to the prince just as the latter was about to retire to his room. Emmeryn said that Maribelle was captured, and that she was heading to parley with King Gangrel on some mountain, and wished to meet up with Chrom beforehand so she could have some backup and moral support. Chrom had rounded everyone up way earlier than we were told, and we were off hours before dawn. I didn't think he slept, though I wasn't surprised. Looking ahead to where he was now, though, fatigue didn't surface, and he trekked forward, the rest of us following in stride.

Emile seemed to have taken the rough awakening rather well, as had Krystal and Dylan. Perhaps they had remembered that this was a scripted event, even though it was going down differently than it had in game. I still couldn't get over how I forgot. Christ, this is when we get Maribelle and Ricken, or more importantly to my usual playthroughs, this is where we get _Elwind_.

Emile was walking with his head held high, and his iron lance strapped to his back. He was strangely chipper, but I didn't question it. He seemed to gravitate to Dylan, but whether it was due to the latter's being from Earth or being a bird-man, I could not say. Dylan seemed to take to him well enough, and the two were talking about something that seemed to have the both of them pretty engaged, yet they were too far away for me to hear, the two of them being farther toward the back, near Miriel and Kellam.

I was up toward the front with the two cavaliers, Robin, and Lissa, while Frederick and Chrom were a little way ahead of us still. Krystal hung near us, and kept to herself. She was wrapped up in a beige cloak, which I initially believed was used as protection from the cold, but was beginning to suspect was actually a shield from prying eyes, what with her revealing outfit and all.

Chrom had introduced Emile just before we left, and I went to introduce to the lance-men the other earthlings. He and Dylan hit it off right away, while Krystal, as expected, was a bit more apprehensive to talk to the Emile, the unfiltered soldier. I entertained the thought that 'unfiltered soldier' would be his title in the credits, and it brought a small smile to my face.

Robin asked me what had me smiling like that, and I pushed the thought away, saying, "Nothing." She shook her head and took out a book. When she flipped the book open and started reading from it, I tried leaning over her shoulder to look at the pages.

And I found myself completely lost. Half of the words were written in a language I didn't recognize, and the other half, while in English, were swirled and fanciful to the point where I couldn't read most of them. You know, it never occurred to me until then how strange and convenient it was that the language of most countries here was English. But I wasn't complaining. As for the other language, I couldn't even recognize the letter. Some of them looked like Greek, others the shapes of what I thought was kanji or katakana, and others looked almost like normal lettering. The strange blend began to hurt my eyes and I had to look away, blinking rapidly. Robin smirked at me.

"Are you able to read that?" I asked.

The tactician nodded. "Some of it. I only started trying about a week ago, but I think I am making good progress."

"What is it?" I asked, curious what nation used such a various system of writing.

"Archaic Valmese, I believe," Robin said, pursing her lips. "I read somewhere that it was referred to as Rigelian, but I don't know how true that is. Regardless, it isn't used any more. A forgotten language."

"Why are you trying to learn it then?"

"To sate my own curiosity?" the tactician shrugged. "Maybe we'll be digging through ruins or an ancient temple someday and the knowledge of an ancient, forgotten language will come in handy."

I scoffed, rolling my eyes. "Yeah right," I said. She returned to her book, and I cast a glance back to Krystal. She had her Flux tome out, and looked as though she was attempting to read it. Her eyes were narrowed in a squint, and her brow furrowed. "What are you up to?" I asked, and she jumped, almost dropping her tome.

"W-What?"

"What are you doing?" I repeated, slowing my pace so I walked right next to her. She reopened her tome, which had slammed shut when she almost dropped it. The lettering was just as strange as the writing in Robin's book, but this time, I didn't recognize any of the shapes, nor was I able to correlate them to any language I knew existed.

"Oh, I was trying to read from my tome. But," she frowned. "I can't make any sense of it. I mean look at this!" Yeah, I wasn't going to be able to gleam any information from the text. The longer I stared at it, the more it seemed to look like the characters were swirling and moving.

"Maybe they aren't meant to be read," I suggested, shrugging. "I can't think of a time where that was mentioned in g—" I cut myself off, clamping my mouth shut so Robin wouldn't hear anything too juicy. Too damn close, wow, that would have been a hell of a time to drop that metaphorical bombshell.

Krystal gave me a sudden look, then flashed back to her usual expression, albeit with a little bit of force behind it. "M-maybe you're right. Either way," she said, stuffing the tome back in her cloak, somewhere, "I don't think I'm going to get anywhere without help, so…"

"Yeah, maybe you'll be able to get some help from Robin or Miriel or something," I said. The dark mage didn't say anything after that, and proceeded to stare at her feet as we walked. I didn't know how to continue the conversation, and wasn't up to the task of striking up a new one.

I tossed a brief look Lissa's way, and took note of her somber expression. Well yeah, her best friend was kidnapped, I supposed. She wouldn't exactly be her cheery sunshine-and-rainbows self, and it would only get worse the farther into the game we went.

I couldn't see Chrom's expression from here, considering his back was turned to us, but I assumed that he still bore his steely look, the determination still burning in his eyes like it had when he woke us up this morning. Gods, if this was putting strain on them, what was Emm's eventual, uh, situation going to do?

I shook the worries away. They did fine in the game, so I was sure they could handle it this time. Right now, we had other issues to worry about.

We stopped suddenly, and I was about to ask why when I saw Robin look to the sky. I followed her gaze to see a group of pegasi descending toward us. They circled around us, slowing to a halt along the ground. There were three of them, all of which were covered in what looked to be a pale-green light armour, though the lead pegasus's armour was more advanced and decorated, with swirling golden designs embellished on it. The lead Pegasus was also piloted by Phila, who was escorting the eloquent exalt Emmeryn as an esteemed passenger.

"Emm," Chrom said, helping his sister down. He gave her a hug once as soon as her feet were on the ground. "I told everyone a short version of what you told me, but would you mind explaining the entire story while we go to the meeting place?"

"Of course," the exalt said, stepping away from Chrom. "Phila, you needn't keep to the ground any longer."

"Yes, Your Grace," the Pegasus captain said. "We will keep watch from above, then. Best of luck with diplomacy." With that, she waved for her two compatriots to take off, and with a parting nod, did the same.

We began to walk again, but this time at a slower pace, as we were no longer in a rush to meet with Emmeryn. The sudden thought occurred to me that she wasn't wearing shoes, for some reason, and I tilted my head to look past Robin and get a better view of her feet. They were covered, fortunately, in a pair of green boots that matched her robe. Why did I think she was barefoot? Who was I thinking of?

I didn't bother paying too much attention as Emm explained the situation leading up to this. I pretty much had it memorized—except for that strange little blank where I forgot it existed—after playing the game for like 750 hours. Maribelle's town got attacked, Gangrel kidnapped her, said she attacked some Plegians, some shit like that. Now he was trying to use her as ransom for the Fire Emblem. Got to give it to the man: he was ambitious. Or mad. One of the two.

After her Grace was done explaining the news to everyone in earshot, I could see the Mad King and who I presumed to be Aversa and Maribelle standing on a hill. Gangrel stood with his left hand resting on his hip, and his right hand lazily holding onto a Levin Sword, a look of displeasure on his face as he chatted with the people at his side. I realized that the people to his side were in fact Aversa and Maribelle, though a man in soldier's garb held the latter in place. Maribelle was also blindfolded. His face then morphed into a crooked smile when he saw us, and he swept his hands out in a dramatic welcome gesture. "Well hello, miss exalt! I admit, I wasn't expecting you to show up in person, in all your radiance! I fear I must shield my eyes!" he cried, cackling wildly.

"King Gangel," Emmeryn said, her tone steady and unwavering. "I have come for the truth of this unfortunate incident between us."

"The truth?" snarled the scantily clad dark flier to Gangrel's side. "I can give you the truth."

"Perhaps milady might first share her name?" Emmeryn asked, clasping her hands in front of her. Chrom stared vehemently at Gangrel, though his gaze flickered between the king and the soldier holding Maribelle captive, the prisoner practically being held up. Robin was still, but her eyes darted around.

"You may call me Aversa."

"Very well, Aversa. Perhaps you can remove the cloth from around Maribelle's eyes?" The dark flier narrowed her eyes, but motioned for the soldier to do just that. The blindfold fell from Maribelle's eyes, and she jolted upright immediately.

Apparently rejuvenated, the troubadour started struggling to free herself from the soldier's grasp, though she made little progress. "Unhand me, you gutter-born troglodyte!" she spouted, attempted to shoot a glare at her captor. Her temper was temporarily put on hold when Lissa called her name, and she looked out to where we were standing, saying, "Lissa? Darling, is that you?"

Aversa chose this time to continue speak, brushing a lock of white hair out of her face. "This girl crossed the Plegian border without consent. And what's more, she wounded the poor, brave Plegian soldiers who only sought to escort her safely home." Her lips were pursed in a pout for the last part, and her voice had lowered.

"LIES!" Maribelle cried, lurching toward her. "You speak nothing but lies, hag! Did they not teach the meaning of the word 'truth' in wretched-crone school?"

"You see?" Aversa said, ever-so-slightly leaning away from the fiery troubadour. "No manners at all. Such a nasty little bird simply had to be caged."

"Such a violent temper speaks to her guilt," Gangrel muttered, shaking his head with a grimace. "This will call for a weighty punishment, or a considerable act of good faith to repair our relations."

"I have done nothing wrong, your Grace," Maribelle pleaded, pulling toward us now. Her normally drill-styled blonde hair was now loose, falling in looser curls around down her shoulders and back. "They razed a village and plundered the homes of a village! Let the carnage there serve as my proof!"

"That would only prove Ylisse's growing bandit problem," Gangrel countered.

"Your Grace, please!"

"Peace, Maribelle," Emmeryn said. Her tone remained even and calm, despite the escalation this meeting took. "I believe you. King Gangrel, I request that you release this woman at once. We are capable of sorting out these issues without a hostage."

"As it stands," the king scowled, "I have no need for a parley. I'm within my rights to have her head and still be home in time for supper. You're the one that needs to bargain here, miss Exalt." Chrom almost lunged forward, but Robin caught him by the shoulder. Gangrel didn't miss the motion, however, and shared a glare with the blue-haired prince. "Control your dog, my dear," he said to Emmeryn, "before he gets someone hurt."

Emmeryn turned and put a calming hand on Chroms shoulder, then looked back to the Mad King. "What would you ask in return for Maribelle's safety?"

A wicked smile spread across Gangrel's face. "My request is simple: in order for Mari Contrary here to return home safely, all I ask is the Fire Emblem."

That was the first thing to actually get to Emm, and I saw her visibly taken aback. "Ylisse's royal treasure?" she asked. "But why?"

"I know the legend!" Gangrel barked. "The Fire Emblem," he said, beginning to pace, "is the key to having all one's wishes realized. I have desired it for year. YEARS! Yet my birthday comes again and again, but no Fire Emblem." Emm opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Gangrel. "Before you begin spouting some nonsense about the nobility of one's wishes, I have someone I wish to show you."

The king stopped pacing and turned around. He waved to someone out of sight, gesturing for them to step forward. Up the hill walked a short girl with platinum blonde hair and strange clothing. She wore a white shirt underneath black armour, the latter of which was adorned with the telltale purple eyes of Grima on the center of the chest-piece. Both her shirt and armour left her sides exposed, shown by how she stood with her side to us, almost like she wanted us to see. She wore a black skirt, the hem decorated in white markings. Black heel-like boots were on her feet, and black stockings rose to halfway up her thigh. At her shoulders were black pauldrons accented with gold, holding up a black cape. The cape was lined with silver, though the bottom edge was looked burnt. Her nearly white hair was held back by a black hairband, and a single stripe of black hair wrapped around her head as the white waterfall around it cascaded down her back.

"This is Dawn," Gangrel said, putting on his best solemn face. "This poor girl's parents were killed in the war that YOUR FATHER waged. I have a noble purpose of my own, Exalt Emmeryn. My wish is the wish of the people, and they wish for the death of every. Last. Ylissean."

The girl—Dawn—didn't look too upset at the mention of her parent's death. Instead, she seemed to be staring at… me? I realized with a shock that she was in fact staring at me, and that her eyes were different colours. One was a vibrant green, while the other was a dark blue, and both were locked onto me as a small smile grew on her face.

"I have never denied the wrongdoings Ylisse has committed in the past, and young girl," Emmeryn said, "I am sorry for what happened to your parents, but I—"

"ENOUGH TALKING!" Gangrel shouted, stabbing his Levin sword into the ground. "It's time to speak louder than words!" At that, Dawn's smile grew into a twisted smirk. "The negotiation is over, Your Luminosity! I shall have the Emblem even if I have to pry it from your shiny dead hands!"

A brigand ran from over the hills, axe raised, charging at Emm. Chrom, as scripted, ran in front of her and cut the brigand down. "Stay back!" the prince growled. "Or you'll all suffer the same fate."

"Now _that_ ," Gangrel chuckled, "is a declaration of war if I've ever seen one. A big, messy war that will bleed you Ylisseans dry!" He began to cackle, clutching at his stomach and tilting backward so that is mad laughter would ring through the clouded sky. As if on cue, shadowy shapes flew above us, descending. Any hope of those shadows being Phila and her partners was shattered as the scaled mounts of wyvern riders glided into view, the sky booming with thunder now.

I looked back to the hill where Gangrel and Aversa were standing. Aversa was walking closer to Maribelle, a sword in the former's hands as the mad king laughed on. I could see her mouth moving as she talked, but couldn't hear anything over the combined clamor of wyvern roars, thunder, and Gangrel's grating laughter.

I realized with shock that this was the point where Ricken came in, but… where was he? He wasn't here! We never stopped in Ylisse to pick him up. My heart sunk, and Maribelle looked at her impending doom with horror, still held in place by the soldier. No one else knew what was going on, their focus instead aimed at the wyverns coming down from the sky. Aversa drew her sword back, poised to slaughter the defenseless troubadour. Before the witch could bring the blade down, however, a shadow flew over me. I thought it was one of the wyvern riders, but was proved wrong when a feathered mass dropped onto the hill next to Aversa, knocking her down.

Dylan let out an intimidating screech from his beak, flapping his wings. Aversa backed away, covering her eyes to keep out the dust and dirt that Dylan was blowing at her. Maribelle was in just as much shock, her mouth wide open as she cowered. The soldier holding her had already fled, scrambling away from this situation as fast as he could. Dylan proceeded to pick Maribelle up, much to her disdain, as she started beating against his massive bird feet. I could see the snarl on Aversa's face as Dylan took off, Maribelle kicking and screaming in his grip.

He dropped her off gently next to us, then soared overhead. I looked back to the hill, where Aversa was dusting herself off and Gangrel was looking down at us with a grin. "Well it seems I have my war!" he cried. "Captain Orton, remain here. Take down as many Ylisseans as you can." With another cackle, the Mad King left us to engage in the bloodshed. I also noticed that Dawn was gone.

"Maribelle, are you okay?" Lissa fussed, pulling her to her feet.

"What was that thing?" the troubadour cried, clutching Lissa.

"One of our new recruits," I said, drawing my sword. "Robin, do you have a plan?" The snow-haired tactician had her hand clutching her chin, still overlooking the battlefield. She didn't respond, so I called her name again.

"Chrom," she said, firing up. "Get Emm and Maribelle to the back of the group. Keep Kellam and Vaike near them, keep them safe. Miriel rides with Stahl and Virion with Sully. Shoot those wyverns out of the sky. Chrom, you and I will deal with the riders on the ground. Krystal and Emile, you two will do the same. Zach, you and Sumia help Dylan. Drop down and pick off grounded foes from the sky." She whirled around, looking over the Shepherds, making sure that she had everybody accounted for, then saw Lon'qu. "Dylan!" she shouted, and the laguz landed swiftly. "Take Lon'qu with you. Get the drop on some of the soldiers on the ground." She looked over us once more, then swung her hand toward the enemy. "Let's go!"

I slid my sword into its sheath and ran to Sumia and swung myself up on her pegasus. "Let's go," I repeated, and we took off. Considering this was my first time flying on anything ever, I thought I handled it pretty well. I clutched onto Sumia really tightly, but that was about the extent of my panic. My eyes were kept up or forward. The wyverns soaring around us was enough to make me piss myself, but I held myself together.

"What's our plan?" Sumia called, her words hard to hear over the whistling of the wind.

"Um…" I had to think of one quick. Unfortunately, I wasn't the best at making plans or strategies, so I had nothing. Then I looked over and saw Dylan with Lon'qu in his claws, diving down. When they closed in on a target, Dylan let the myrmidon loose and dropped him onto their unsuspecting foe. A lightbulb went off in my head. "Get me low. I'll drop down onto them, then you can swoop back and pick me up." The pegasus knight faced me, giving me a shocked look. Yeah, this was probably a bad idea, but it was better than the nothing that I'd had moments ago. "Trust me."

Sumia nodded, and we plummeted. I likely couldn't have held myself tighter to the pegasus knight than I had at that moment. But when our descent slowed, I saw out target. A dark mage was sitting on top of a fort, firing volleys of dark magic down at the Shepherds who had yet to climb up the hill all the way. We got closer, and I let go of Sumia, ready to jump. "Now!" she shouted, and I leapt down. I retain that the only thing more daunting than having someone fly at you like a human arrow was having that human arrow flying at you.

The dark mage didn't know what hit him. I didn't land completely on him, but I wrapped my arms around him and brought him to the ground with me. I hit the dark mage with enough force that we tumbled off the edge of the fort, which was another solid fifteen feet of falling. Luckily for me, he took the brunt of the damage, and I heard the crunching of his bones on impact. Without hesitation, I drew my blade and slid it into his gut, then yanked it out.

Gods, I hadn't killed anyone in so long. I did my best to dismiss the disgust rising in me, or at least push it off until later. I cast my eyes to the sky, seeing Sumia gliding toward me.

She slowed until almost a complete stop so I could pull myself aboard, then we were airborne again. "Are you alright?" she asked. I checked myself for injuries, but didn't find anything. I flashed her a thumbs up and she nodded.

Our next target few targets were brigands or myrmidons, none of which caused much problems when I was hurdled at them. I was starting to get the landing down better, too. The two times after the dark mage involved me tumbling past the target after knocking them down, and I had to scramble over and execute them. Now, I was landing on them and following through with a roll, so I was on my feet in seconds. My sword was coated and slick with blood by the fifth or sixth time Sumia picked me up. I contemplated wiping it off on our next unfortunate victim when a ball of fire flew past us.

I looked down to see a mage standing near a bundle of trees, hands outstretched toward us. Another ball was beginning to form in his hand already when I pointed him out to Sumia. Before we could dive at him, another spell flew at us from the other side. "Argh, fine," I growled to myself. "Sumia, while I deal with the bitch by the trees, can you take care of the other one?" She nodded, and flew toward the first mage.

I jumped down just as his spell released. Luckily, it missed Sumia, though I suspected that it was because the pegasus knight was not his target. The fire ball flew at me, barely grazing me. It licked me enough to singe the clothes on my right side, and I hissed in pain.

The mage let out a cowardly scream half a second before I crashed into him. I wasted no time in driving my blade through him. I took the brief moment of personal peace to check on where he hit me. The burns weren't severe, but it was going to suck unless I could get Lissa to heal me. "Gods dammit," I muttered.

Sumia wasn't in the sky anymore, so I assumed she was dealing with the other mage, and I hoped she was succeeding. It wouldn't be long before she was back in the air and coming to pick me up again, I knew.

I let out a sigh. This battle was going well. The Shepherds were pushing up the hill past me, and most of the wyverns had either been shot out of the sky or landed voluntarily to avoid just that. I looked back down at my sword. Seeing my reflection in the bloodstained iron reminded me to wipe it off, and just as I knelt down to do so, I was pulled back to my feet.

Cold steel was pressed to my throat, and a hand clamped over my mouth before I could cry out. "Hush now," came a feminine voice in a strangely familiar accent. "If you scream, I'll kill you without hesitation, and you don't want that." My chest was rising and falling rapidly as I panicked, breathing through my nose. My breathing slowed, however, and it was apparently funny to the woman holding me hostage. She laughed, moving the hand from my mouth. "Good boy," she said, pulling me backward, into the trees.

She whirled me around, and I was suddenly facing her. I didn't get a good look at her before I was pushed to the ground, my legs also getting swept out from under me. My head hit the ground and I winced, but my eyes widened when I was who was holding me here. Dawn, the girl that Gangrel introduced, stood above me, wearing that wicked grin that I'd only glimpsed before. Up close, it was terrifying, especially considering that she was holding a sword. I looked more closely at the sword, and saw that it wasn't steel like I'd thought, or even metal for that matter. It was transparent, like glass.

Without warning, Dawn pinned my shoulders with her knees, sitting on top of my chest. She wasn't heavy; it was unlikely that she weighed even a hundred pounds, but the glass sword in her hand was all the deterrent I needed to not try pushing her off.

Her heterochromatic eyes locked onto mine, even when she brought the edge of her sword to my cheek. I tried to turn away from the blade, but her free hand held my head in place. "He told me that your group would be weaker than me, but I'd thought you would put up more of a fight. It is a shame that your run is ending so early, isn't it? You're only a few chapters into the story, and yet no one is here to save you. Tragic, a terrible fate." She giggled at the last few words, then pressed the sword harder to my face. When it cut, she drew back and I saw blood on the blade.

She bit her lip as I stared at my blood. The sinking feeling, the fear of helplessness in the fate of my own oblivion was rising within me again. In a panic, I pushed up, trying to throw Dawn off, but she had me pinned. I was going to die, and there was nothing I could do. Another push, nothing. "No, no," she said, staring at me with the eyes of a predator. "You are not getting away. You are never going back home. It is such a shame…" she moved the sword and cut along my forehead this time. I gritted my teeth, squeezing my eyes shut. When I opened them, Dawn was staring at my fresh blood again, a strange look in her eyes, the smile on her face just a little wider.

I was hyperventilating again, though my breaths were shorter and faster with Dawn sitting on my chest. "It is a shame that you and I were brought here, so far from our homes, and you have to die so early on in this little game. Well, perhaps I can at least do you one favour, hmm?" My breath caught in my throat as she raised her glass sword, pointing the tip directly over my chest.

This was it. The end. I was never getting back home, no matter what. This girl was going to kill me, drive a blade of glass through my heart. Or would it be my lung? Would I die instantly? Or would I be left to die slowly as I suffocated, or blood filled my lungs and I drowned in it? Or would she kill me before then? Would my body be found here by the other Shepherds? Would I be buried in Ylisse? Or would I be burned in some sort of Viking-esque funeral? I closed my eyes and let the questions answer themselves.

Each and everyone one of them was answered with a resounding 'no'. Or rather, a panicked voice crying my name. I opened my eyes, and saw that Dawn had yet to move her sword. Before anything else could happen, something swung across my vision, something long that knocked Dawn clean off of me and to the side.

She recovered quickly, picking up her glass sword and getting into a rough fighting stance. I rolled away from her and onto my feet, as well. Instinctively, I reached for my sword, but found the scabbard at my waist empty. Then someone stepped in front of me, and I was overjoyed to recognize the rosy armour and curling hair of Sumia.

"Zach," the pegasus knight said without facing me, "are you alright?"

"Uh, um, yeah, yes, I think so," I sputtered. My breathing was still chaotic as all hell, and I looked to see my hands shaking.

"Good," Sumia said. She backed up and put a hand backward, still facing Dawn. In the hand she put toward me was a sword. My sword! I took it gratefully, and, despite my nerves, stepped beside her with my weapon as ready as I could have it.

Dawn seemed to realize that the situation had taken a turn for the worst on her end, and she slid her glass sword into its sheath with an otherwise pleasant ringing noise. "I know when a fight is unwinnable," she said, her lips curling into a small smile. "Until next we meet, my fellow." She momentarily looked at me again, before darting out of the trees and away from us.

Sumia watched after the fleeing girl for a moment, and as soon as she turned back to me, I dropped my sword and threw my arms around the pegasus knight. I lost it. I pulled Sumia into a tight embrace, crying into her shoulder. I bawled like a damn baby, but fuckin' hell I was so goddamn scared. I couldn't help it. I was so scared, and Sumia saved my life. I didn't know how long it took for her to hug me back, and I figured I would probably regret this later, but gods…

"Zach," she said, "are you okay?" I nodded, trying to rein in my sobs. "Are you sure?" After a moment of thought, I slowly shook my head. I came way to close today. I felt so cold, I felt myself slipping, even if I hadn't actually died. I felt lost, adrift. I never wanted to feel that again.

~Ω~

We won the battle handily. Chrom's _Falchion_ tore the wyverns apart, and Virion's arrows brought them to the ground so our dear prince could more easily kill them. Robin's plan worked to near perfection; the worst of the injuries were my burns and scratches and Lon'qu's broken wrist. I heard from Dylan that the myrmidon broke it landing wrong. Heh.

Sumia offered to keep my near death a secret, but I declined. Robin and Chrom needed to know about Dawn. I wouldn't tell them about my breakdown, but my red, watery eyes were bound to give away the fact that I'd started crying. If anyone asked, I would tell them the truth.

By the time I was done crying, the battle was won, and we began marching our way back to Ylisstol. I asked Sumia how she found me, and she said she saw my sword laying on the ground and figured I'd gone into the trees.

No one questioned my red puffy eyes. I chalked it up to them not paying enough attention or not noticing. I felt better after that, though. It was refreshing to just… let the waterworks go. It was almost comical how Sumia was always the one caught up in my emotional outbursts, whatever fashion they took. My problems aside, there were bigger issues present now. Namely, the war that now loomed over Ylisse and Plegia.

And the assassination attempt on Emmeryn coming up, but they didn't know about that. But I got the feeling that that event was a lot longer away than I thought it was.

As we marched toward the capital, however, none of that was on my mind. Two things were stuck at the forefront of my conscience: the crazed look in Dawn's multicoloured eyes as she threatened to end my life, and the fact that I was right the other day.

Sumia was, in fact, very soft.

 **Damn, yo, I made this chapter in like 2 days! That's crazy, even if it took like a week to upload. I'm satisfied with it, too. I haven't got a lot to say about this chapter, either.**

 **Thanks to ZeXal2828, the winner of the little OC thing last chapter.**

 **Anyway, I think that's it.**

 **All of the Oats have left the building.**


	10. Chapter 9: Fighting Goliath

**Don't own a thing, m'bois.**

 **A quick thing to note:**

 **~◊◊◊~ is POV shift**

 **~Ω~ is timeshift**

 **~◊Ω◊~ is both**

I woke up to the sound of knocking. I admit, I was surprised to find that I wasn't woken up in the middle of the night as a result of an abrupt assassination attempt. The knocking stopped for a moment, and I swung my legs over the side of the bed with a groan. I slept well. Very well, actually. It was much appreciated after yesterday's combat and long marches.

I opened the door, and blinked when I saw Chrom. "Oh, hey man, what's up?"

Chrom was wearing a plain blue shirt and pants. He was casual, but bore a serious look in his eyes. "Zach, I've been notified that some villages in the southeast are being terrorized by bandits. They've requested aid, and I'm gathering a handful of Shepherds to come with me."

"And you want me to come and help?" I asked, and he nodded. I… wasn't up for it. I wanted to go and take care of some bandits, but I couldn't. I kept seeing those blue and green eyes, and I… I felt cold, the weight on my chest, her breath on me. My breaths were coming short. I tried to calm myself before answering, saying, "I think I'm going to pass."

My miniature panic attack caught Chrom's attention, so he gave me a concerned look. "Zach," he said, "you've been acting strange since yesterday. You were fine before the battle, though. Did something happen during the battle yesterday?" I winced, and he caught that, too. "Zach?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say something happened."

"I'm happy to lend an ear, if you'd like to talk about it." I considered it, then remembered my promise to tell them about Dawn. Yeah. I nodded, and stepped aside to let him into my room. I had been acting a bit more reserved, I realized, and my going to bed so early probably hadn't helped. Part of my reasoning for that, however, was that I suspected the assassination attempt was going to happen last night. A pleasant surprise, I guess.

"So in the battle yesterday, Sumia and I were doing this…" I waved my hands around vaguely. "…this divebomb thing, right? And on one of the dives, Sumia and I split to take care of two mages. I took care of mine and while she was killing her target, that girl that Gangrel introduced—you know her?"

Chrom thought for a moment, hand on his chin, then said, "Dawn? Was that her name?"

"Yeah. She came up from behind me and dragged me into this bundle of trees with this glass sword. To keep it short, I was—Chrom, I almost died." I looked him dead in the eye, and could feel mine burning as tears threatened to spill just thinking back on it. Fuckin' hell, man. "I was helpless, and she like, she cut me here and here," I touched my cheek and forehead. "Then she went to stab me in the chest and if Sumia hadn't—" I took a deep breath. "I'd given up. I had resigned to my death, but Sumia saved me.

"With that sword poised over my heart, I was…" I couldn't find the words to describe the emptiness, the feeling of being adrift in nothingness as I awaited my demise. "Sumia brought me back from that edge, and chased Dawn off." I let out a dry laugh. "I bawled into her shoulder for several minutes after that. I'm not used to this feeling, Chrom. It's hard to talk about this. I've never had that problem, in the sense that it shakes me to think back on those few moments. How do I deal with this?"

Chrom shook his head, his gaze sympathetic. "I can't help you, Zach. I have never been in your situation. All I can recommend is taking a few days off, maybe talking through it with Robin or someone, and cooling down. Needless to say, you're staying here for now."

"Yeah."

Chrom stood up and left, but not before giving me a quick bro-hug. He patted me on the back and said, "Remember, we're always here to lend an ear." I briefly thought about letting him know that he rhymed, but decided against it.

"Of course," I said, and for once in my life, actually considered it. But he had to get ready for his mission, and I'm sure find a Shepherd willing to fill the spot I'd left, so I gave him a smile and went to shut the door behind him. He stopped, however, pivoting on his heel and turning around.

"I almost forgot," he said, reaching into a pocket. He pulled out a small pouch that jingled when he handed it to me. "You haven't gotten paid yet." With one more small smile, he said farewell and left.

I was tempted to go back to sleep, but the sweet smell of food roused me from my room. I was already dressed in my myrmidon wear, as I wanted to be prepared for the assassination attempt, so I was already prepared for the day Kind of surprising that Chrom didn't mention it.

I wandered to the mess hall, tying the pouch of gold to my belt, and was pleasantly surprised to find Robin cooking. She was wearing a tan tank top with her cloak wrapped around her waist, nearly covering her matching skirt, and a white cloth tied like a bandana atop her head, holding her hair back. She was stirring a big pot with a smile on her face. I knocked on the door to get her attention and smiled. "Hello, Zach."

"Good morning, Robin. What are you making?"

"Beef stew," she replied, taking the wooden spoon out of the pot and setting it to the side.

"For breakfast?"

Robin shrugged, leaning against the counter. "It's easy to make, and I didn't think anyone would mind too much. Half of the Shepherds are going to be gone anyway, including our best and worst cooks."

My eyebrow quirked up. "Are you not going with?" If Robin was staying here, who was going to lead the Shepherds tactically? "Who is going to guide them?"

"Chrom said Virion would take care of leading them in battle," she said, a panicked look flashing across her face as the pot starting bubbling violently. "He has some skill; certainly enough for a bandit fight." She removed the pot from the heat, and the bubbling settled down. After a moment, she put it back on and picked the big spoon up, stirring it again. "I haven't cooked in a while," she said, smiling.

"It smells good," I said. "When will it be done?"

"Soon enough," the tactician said, wiping her forearm across her forehead. "Gods, it gets hot in here." Sure enough, she was covered in sweat, her skin glistening. It was weird to see her without that big cloak on. Well, I mean, it was _on_ right now, so to speak, but she wasn't actually wearing it. I won't go into too much detail, but she looked good. I think I was staring, too, if the look on her face when she cleared her throat was any indication. She rolled her brown eyes, her smile now a cocky smirk. "Did you need something, or were you just planning on staring at me for a while?"

"I um, well…" I stammered before remembering what Chrom said earlier. "I smelled the food, so I came in here, but that reminds me of something." Hell, I'd just gotten paid and I wasn't going to spend my money on anything else. And I could certainly do a lot worse than Robin. "If you aren't busy later, you want to go get something to eat?"

She tentatively set the spoon on the counter, her smile dying, her eyes narrowing. "Are you asking me on a date?"

"I mean, I guess. There are just some things I wanted to talk to you about, and we may as well do something at the same time."

"Oh, well, maybe not something to eat," she said, gesturing to the pot of stew. "I'm already making this, but we can think of something else, I'm sure. But yes, I would be happy to."

"Great," I said, genuinely looking forward to it. This was going to be a nice way to relax, I thought. A nice change of pace before the next battle, which I hoped wasn't for a while, considering half of our group was gone. Regardless, I was glad to have a date to look forward to.

~◊Ω◊~

Krystal

I didn't like marching. My feet always hurt, but I wasn't brave enough to complain. I'm sure the others hated it just as much as I did, and none of them were complaining. Then again, most of them were on horses. Sully and Stahl were leading the way, chatting to each other animatedly. In middle of the column, Maribelle ignored Vaike by looking straight ahead, not letting his pestering faze her. Chrom was just ahead of them, Virion at his side. Then I was at the back, Miriel right beside me.

I avoided sulking, but I hardly got any sleep last night. I was expecting the Validar to come and attack the palace, so I stayed up late. At some point, I'd dozed off anyway and woke up to Stahl knocking on my door. I probably had around 4 hours of sleep, but I threw on my cloak and ran with. I wasn't going to turn down a request from the prince, after all.

I couldn't really think of where we were going. We were marching South, that much I knew, but I had no idea where our destination was. Chrom mentioned bandits, so maybe we were going to find Donnel? Or maybe not. Things were already turning out differently than I expected, so I really couldn't afford to guess.

I looked to my left, at Miriel. She had her ever blank expression and a book in her hand. I thought she was reading at first, but the speed at which she transitioned pages made me think otherwise. No one could read that fast. It must have been a text book or something, with lots of diagrams or drawn examples. I turned away quickly in fear she would look up, see me staring at her and start talking.

At least the sun was higher up, now. It was warmer than it was when we started marching, which was nice. My damned outfit was no protection against the cold, and this little cloak that Robin gave me was little help. It almost seemed like a joke. It was far too small to fit even me. It fell only to my waist, so that already left most of my thighs exposed, and I had to pull it tight to make it cover my breasts. Why were the gods so cruel when they dropped me here? They gave me this exposing outfit and placed me in the coldest point on the continent. How was that fair? Yet Zach, Dylan and… the other guy—what was his name? Emile? Those three were given decent clothing to wear, and Emile was the only other one dropped in Ferox.

I shouldn't have been complaining. I got to use magic, after all. Dark magic, even. That wasn't something you see every day, at least not on your side. If I remembered correctly, Henry and Tharja were the only dark mages we recruited, and they weren't for quite a while yet, so I was a valuable player right now.

I pulled my tome from the little clip on my belt and flipped it open, once more trying to decrypt the strange characters on its pages. I wished I understood more about how my magic worked, though. All I did in battle was swing my arm and yell out the spell's name, and boom—magic. Each time I did, a page disappeared from my book, but there were plenty. Definitely more than when it was a game, which was 45, I think.

Dylan was pretty cool, too. More unique than any of us, that's for sure. He could turn into a bird! That was insane. Out of the four of us, I got the feeling he was the most indispensable, from a tactical standpoint, even if Zach had been with the Shepherds the longest. Us other earthlings didn't hold a candle to him in battle either, I thought, except for Emile.

I didn't like Emile, to be honest. He liked to talk, and it seemed like he just said whatever came to his mind. No filter. Dylan was calm and cool, keeping mostly to himself, and Zach was friendly and nice, even if he did have a tendency to stare at _everything_. But even in the one or two conversations I'd had with Emile, the lancer was kind of abrasive, and his personality was so wildly outgoing that it was somewhat overwhelming. But I couldn't deny his skill in battle. He had bested Zach AND Frederick. Neither of those were small feats, especially considering how strong Frederick was.

I found myself wishing Zach was here. Or Robin. They were both much easier to talk to than Miriel or Chrom. Not that Chrom wasn't nice, but just thinking of talking to a full blown prince jumbled my thoughts, and I couldn't bear to fumble with my words in front of him like I knew I would.

I wondered if Zach and Robin were so easy to talk to because they were the ones that got me out of that awful Feroxi dungeon. I shivered thinking of the comments the other prisoners made. It was to be expected, what with how little my outfit left to the imagination, but gods, it was terrible.

The two of them were very friendly, though. They liked to joke with each other, so I knew they were pretty close. It was strange how close they were, actually. It had only been a week that they'd known one another, yet they were together so frequently. It was kind of cute, actually, how Zach stuck with her. Or was it the other way around? No, it was Zach that followed. Robin was too independent, and she had to be busy running an army.

Did Zach have a crush on the tactician? I smiled at the thought. Making a match with the match maker? That would be so cute! I would have to talk to him next time I could. If I could gather up the nerve.

My thoughts were torn from me when Sully called out, and pointed ahead with her lance. Stahl was riding ahead, and she soon followed. When we all caught up, I gasped. There was a boy on the ground, and I could see his chest heaving as he struggled for breath. He was covered in wounds, ranging in minor cuts and scratches to arrows sticking out of him. And on his head of curling, purplish hair was a dented, scratched-up pot.

Chrom knelt down next to him and lifted him up. "Maribelle, heal him," he said, keeping the boy's head up. The troubadour stepped forward and raised her staff. A green glow came from it, and soon surrounded the injured boy. Maribelle didn't heal all the injuries, however. She didn't heal the arrow wounds, which seemed to be the most serious. "What are you doing, Maribelle?"

"I can't heal him with those arrows still in him," she answered, "otherwise they'll be sealed inside. We have to pull them out, first."

"Alright, well—"

"Chrom, look!" Vaike shouted, and we all turned to see where he was looking. Not too far in the distance, smoke was rising into the sky.

"Dammit," Chrom cursed through gritted teeth. "Maribelle, you and Vaike stay here to heal him," he said, pointing to the boy. "Everyone else, we ride for that pillar of smoke." Chrom swung onto Stahl's horse, and Sully pulled Virion and I onto hers. With a brief look back at Maribelle and Vaike, the latter of whom was already being instructed on pulling the first arrow out, we took off.

I held tight to Virion, who in turn held tightly to Sully. I had never ridden a horse before, so this was a new experience. I took a look at the ground, and my eyes shot straight forward again when I saw the grass and dirt flying by underneath us. A shudder went through me. Falling off would hurt really, _really_ bad, I decided, and kept my eyes ahead for the remaining time of the ride.

The pillar of smoke was coming from a small village. The remains of a small village, rather. Most of the building were already burnt down or in the process, but the people at fault were still here. Exiting one of the intact building was a shirtless man with a struggling woman over one shoulder and his axe resting on the other. When he saw us, he panicked and dropped the woman, running the other way, screaming something. As he did, more men came from the remaining buildings and, after seeing us, sprinted off with their comrade.

Chrom seemed willing to follow them, but slid off of Stahl's horse once they reached the woman that the first man dropped. Sully stopped, too, and Virion and I dismounted. "Oh gods, thank you," the woman said. She was middle-aged, and heavier-set, wearing a plain green dress. "If you hadn't come along, I'da been killed! Thank ya, thank ya, Prince."

"Peace," Chrom said, raising a hand. "I'm happy we got here in time, but who were those men?"

A sour look crossed the woman's face as she said, "Them's Roddick's men. A buncha bandits and fiends. They've been terrorizin' our village for months, but they'd never gone this far!" Her voice had a heavy southern drawl to it.

"Where is their base?" Sully asked, shifting her lance in her grip. The determination in her eyes was as fiery as her hair. "We'll take them out there."

The woman spun on her heel and pointed toward where the bandit's had run. "Straight that way," she said. "They call it 'the Farfort'."

"Thank you," Chrom said, then to us, "We'll wait for Maribelle and Vaike, then head for their hideout."

"One more thing, your Highness," the woman said, and Chrom turned to face her. "Did you see my son down that way?" Her face had turned from one of distaste to one of worry, and her hands were fidgeting nervously in front of her. "I told him to run that way to get help. He had a pot on his head?"

"Yes," Chrom said, offering a kind smile. "We saw your son. He was very injured, but one of us stayed behind to heal his wounds. They should be here any minute."

"What's your son's name?" I asked without thinking. I already knew the answer. There was no way any self-respecting Awakening player couldn't make the connection, but I had to ask.

The woman gave me a strange look, but said, "His name's Donnel."

Zach

"How do dishes in this place work?" I asked Robin. Breakfast had finished minutes ago. Just as she'd anticipated, no one had complained about having beef stew this early in the day, and despite having no memories, Robin was a damn good cook.

"I asked Stahl the same thing one morning," she said. "He told me that the maids clean up after us." The tactician smiled. "He also said that they hate it just as much as we do when Sully cooks, because they have to scrape at whatever she burned." We were walking through the halls of the palace, and she was wearing her cloak again. Her hands were in her pockets, and the cloth that had been tied over her head was now wrapped around her arm.

"What about when we're out in the field?" I asked. "I've never really stuck around long enough to see how dishes are dealt with."

"What's with the sudden interest in dishes?" Robin countered, chuckling.

"I'm trying to make small talk."

"And that involves interrogating me about where our dishes go?"

"I'm not interro—" I shook my head. "Whatever. I don't know, whenever I make small talk, it usually involves me asking questions, and I didn't know how the dishes got clean, so, yeah."

"Why don't you just talk normally?"

"Now who's interrogating who?" I smirked at her, thinking I'd turned the tables. Oh what I fool I was. How does one turn the tables on those who tip the scales?

"I'm trying to get to the bottom of your strange talking habits, you weirdo." She punctuated the statement with a smirk of her own, and I shook my head, smiling.

"You dick," I said, punching her shoulder. We were both silent for a minute after that. I was glad I had someone to talk to casually like this. It was refreshing, and reminiscent of the conversations I'd have with my friends back home.

"Hey, does this count as that date you wanted?" she said with a laugh.

"No, fuck you," I laughed, shaking my head again. Damn this woman.

"Why not? We're talking, just like you said, and you don't even have to pay for anything," the tactician reasoned. "I'm fairly certain that meets all the parameters, right?"

"Who said I was going to pay?"

"You were the one who asked me out, not the other way around," she said. "I wouldn't be paying."

"That's fair, I suppose." Damn this woman. She was too clever. Her undying, triumphant smirk was frustrating. She knew she won this round without me admitting it. "But, no this doesn't count as a date. This isn't what I wanted to talk to you about, either."

"Then what _did_ you want to talk about?" Robin inquired, raising one eyebrow. I didn't give a verbal response, however, and shook my head, instead. No, now wasn't the time or place to voice my problems. Too public, and I was too shy. "Hey," she said, grabbing my shoulder. I'd begun absentmindedly walking faster, but she stopped me before I pulled too far ahead. "Hey, I'm sorry." I turned around and saw that all of the humour was gone from her face, replaced with concern now. "What's going on?"

"I don't… Robin, I don't want to talk about it here," I muttered, crossing my arms and averting my gaze. "Is that alright?" I was probably making the situation worse than it really was, worrying her more than she needed to be.

Her brow was furrowed over her brown eyes. "Yeah, of course. We can go to my room. No one will bug us there, and we can talk in privacy," she suggested. "Okay?"

"I…" It was heartwarming that she was so insistent. Chrom, too. At the very least, I was glad they held such concern for me, even though they'd known me for around a week at most. "Sure."

"Let's go." Robin moved her hand to my other shoulder, her arm over me. I didn't say anything. It shouldn't have felt weird, especially considering the situation, but it was… comforting to be like this. An awkward sort of comfort, but a comfort nonetheless. So strange. I felt like a child.

Her room was farther down the hall and past several turns. It was rather plain, with no real decorations to speak of other than her large bed and big desk. Robin and I sat down on her bed, and she took her coat off, tossing it over the chair at her desk. She sat a fair distance from me, and supported herself with one arm as she looked at me. "Whenever you're ready," she said softly.

I sat with my hands on my lap. I took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly as I recanted to Robin the same story I'd told Chrom hours ago. I didn't give her the short version like I had with the prince, however, and what a mistake that had been. Tears started flowing down my cheeks halfway through the part where Dawn started cutting me. Something about that memory stuck more vividly in my mind than any other part, the sadistic smile that she wore as she did, the gleeful look in her eyes.

Robin was good at listening. Whenever I would get choked up, she would place her hand on my back and hold it there for a while, which happened more than I was ever going to live down. The entire ordeal lasted so much longer than it needed to.

When I finished talking, I was left a tearful, shuddering mess. I hadn't sobbed at all, but my quivering breath wasn't much of an improvement. I'd told her everything, from the cold emptiness I'd felt to the way I cried into Sumia's shoulder. I didn't know if the last part gave her incentive to pull me into an embrace, but she did, and I lost it there.

The last 24 hours were just a brutal emotional cycle for me. I went from fairly happy to crying in front of a pretty girl while she held me to fairly happy to crying in front of a pretty girl while she held me, though this time it was kind of sideways, with Robin facing perpendicularly to me, her head resting on mine. I felt like such a little bitch.

"Zach, I'm sorry that this had to happen to you," Robin said, stroking my hair. "If I had put you somewhere else on that field, or paired you with someone else… If I'd paired you with myself, this wouldn't have happened. I could have put Chrom with Sumia, and they could have—I don't know, gods." She shook her head. "I should have taken that girl into account when I came up with my plan. I'm sorry."

I sniffled. I was doing what I could to keep my breathing steady and calm, but was failing miserably, shuddering against her frequently. "N-No, it isn't your fault, Robin." The last thing I needed was her to feel guilty about something that was my fault.

"Is there anything I can do?" I couldn't say for sure. This was all so new to me. So many new, awful emotions were coming to me, and I didn't know how to deal with them. I kept getting overwhelmed. I needed an anchor.

"This is good," I muttered, nestling into her shoulder. She continued to stroke my hair. I couldn't tell if it was comforting, at all, but I didn't tell her to stop. I didn't mind. It had been so, so long since I'd been held like this, in need of such comfort.

Krystal

The bandits had chosen a stupid place for a hideout. This "Farfort" of theirs was little more than a cluster of walls with no ceilings. From his vantage point on a hill, Virion said he was able to see every single person in the camp, including their prisoners.

He said that their numbers were small enough that we could take them in a head on fight without much problem. Chrom nodded, and we readied up near the bottom of the hill, not far from their base.

And then Donnel came running up. He ran up to us, holding the pot steady on his head and his lance in his other hand.

"Donny?" Chrom exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry your princeliness, but I couldn't just stay behind. I had to do somethin' to help get mah friends outta here."

Chrom pinched the bridge of his nose, but said, "Alright. Just be careful, and stick close to me." Donnel nodded enthusiastically, having to readjust his pot afterward, but donning a determined face regardless. "Virion, what's the plan?"

Virion had his eyes narrowed at the bandit camp. It was strange seeing such a serious expression on his face in oppose to his usually breezy demeanor. "Vaike shall ride with Sully, and they will clear the small group over there." He pointed with an arrow to the east of the fort, where a cluster of four or five enemies was gathered. "None of them are heavily armoured, and a precise sneak attack will be sure to weaken their ranks. Stahl and I shall travel with these two ladies," he gestured to Miriel and I. "We will move straight north. We will be facing the brunt of the enemies, but with your magnificent magic, we will prevail. As for you, my lord, you and Donnel shall cut east after passing that wall here. There are only a few foes inside, and it offers a shortcut to the man that I believe is their ringleader, so to speak. Is that sufficient?"

"Sounds good to me," Chrom said. "You heard the man. Let's get moving so we can return to Yllistol soon." He drew _Falchion_ and ran forward, Donnel hustling to keep up. Vaike hopped onto Sully's horse and the two charged off at an angle, aiming for their unsuspecting targets.

"Shall we?" Virion asked, his trademark smile coming back to his face as he turned around. I nodded, Miriel pushed her glasses onto her face, and Stahl drew his sword. All in agreement, we ran down the hill after Chrom and Donnel, arriving to the fray just after they did.

Chrom ran with _Falchion_ pointed straight forward. He collided with a fighter, his sword burying in the man to the hilt. The fighter didn't go down right away, and raised his axe to attack. Before the weapon was able to come down, Donnel came in and stabbed his lance into the bandit's side, and the axe fell to the ground. "Good save," Chrom said, flashing the farm boy a smile.

To my left, Virion was engaged in a bow fight with another archer across the yard. The nobleman rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding an oncoming arrow without releasing the one that he already had drawn, only firing when he was back on his feet.

Miriel was also busy, avoiding the quick slashes of a thief. She would infrequently shoot a ball of fire at him, forcing him back, but neither of them were able to land a hit. I saw an opportunity, and waved my arm at the thief, shouting, "Flux!"

The magic circles danced around the thief's feet, before shooting out two black and purple pillars, forming an 'x' as they shot through him. The force of the spell sent his sword flying to the side, and he dropped to the ground, dead.

I heard a pained cry behind me, and spun around to see that Virion had dealt with the other archer. Stahl was further into the fort, and he had an archer cornered. The cavalier raised his sword to deliver a fatal blow, and didn't notice the thief creeping up behind him, ready to do the same. I gasped and ran forward, thrusting my hand toward the thief and calling out my spell.

He was too far away, so it had less effect than with the first one, but my Flux was more than enough to knock the thief to the ground, buying Stahl the time he needed to kill the archer. I let out a sigh, holding a hand to my chest. That was close. I began to turn when I saw Stahl's sword coming down on the thief I hit, and was nearly met with the blade of a sword. There were three thieves?

He got in close again, and I tried to spin away, but he nicked my shoulder. I hissed at the pain, and tried to retaliate by hitting him with Flux. He noticed the magic circles swirling around him, however, and danced out of the way before the pillar of magic hit him. He ran in again, and I cast another Flux. Again, he dodged it, and this time he was closer.

I had almost no time to react when he lunged toward me, sword pointed for my stomach. In a panic, I yelped and flung my arm up. A pillar of Flux shot up just inches in front of me, knocking the thief's sword away and sending both of us flying back a few feet.

I pulled myself into a sitting position, holding a hand to my now aching head. The thief was faster than me, however, and had scrambled to his feet before snatching his sword off the ground and running at me.

I threw my hand forward in blind panic once more, but before the call of Flux could leave my lips, an arrow hit the archer in the throat, and he dropped to his knees, clutching where the arrow went in. I look to where the arrow came from and saw Virion lowering his bow.

The archer walked up and offered me a hand up, which I took. "Th-ah, thank you," I stammered.

"Not a problem, my lady," he said, punctuating the statement with a wink. "Come with me." He slid his bow over his shoulder and ran a bit farther north, with me trailing behind. I didn't expect the archer to run so fast. He stopped and took a sharp right around the degraded stone wall of the fort, and I skidded around the corner, almost falling down before catching myself and following after.

As soon as I rounded the corner, I saw Virion twist sideways, and an arrow whizzed past him. I wasn't fast enough to completely avoid it, but I tilted my head to the side and managed to move enough so that it only scratched my cheek.

Virion slipped his bow off of his shoulder and knocked an arrow, firing it at the archer ahead of him within the second. I thrust my hand forward, calling out a Flux, too. Virion's arrow hit the bandit's bow, splitting it apart, and my Flux hit him full-force, sending him flying into the stone wall behind him. I sighed and slumped over, placing my hands on my knees. I was too frail for this. I was not in good enough shape for this running and fighting all the time. Virion put his bow back on his shoulder and ran up to the archer's body. I caught up to him and found him patting the archer's chest. One thing I was thankful for was that dark magic didn't leave much in terms of blood when it killed. At least Flux didn't.

"What are you doing?" I asked, apprehensively shuffling on my feet and glancing back the way we came. What were the others doing? Were Chrom and Donny alright?

"I am searching for a key," Virion replied, not looking up from his task. "There is a chest a little further down this way, and I am willing to wager that there is some treasure to be gleamed from it. While I am occupied here, however, would milady like to go find where our dear prince has gone?"

"O-oh, sure!" I shifted my grip on my tome and spun around on my heel, heading back around the fort. My knowledge of this fort's layout was very minimal. It had been a while since my last playthrough of Awakening, and I wasn't sure that the layout was even the same here. But, I did know that bosses tended to be in the centre of their bases, so I took a left turn and ran down the long hallway. Lying dead inside was the archer that had been engaged in the duel with Virion earlier, an arrow now protruding from his chest.

At the end, the hall turned right, leading to a larger square room. Inside, Chrom and Donnel were battling two axe-wielding men. Chrom was doing most of the work, keeping Donny safe while still dealing with his own barbarian. On occasion, Donnel would step from behind the safety that was Chrom and jab at the barbarians in front of them, while Chrom was busy deflecting their blows.

"Flux!" I cried, raising my hand skyward. Before the barbarians could turn around or react to my voice, one of them was crushed by a pillar of dark energy. This gave Chrom the opening he needed to parry the other bandit's axe out of the way, giving Donnel a clear shot at his gut.

Donny took the chance, jamming his lance deep into the bandit's gullet, then yanking it out and stabbing again. The bandit fell to his knees, Donnel's lance still buried in him. Donnel's eyes were wide, his teeth bared, his expression a mix of fear, adrenaline, and disgust at what he'd just done. I was very glad that Flux wasn't a bloody weapon.

"Thank you," Chrom said, flashing me a quick smile. He wiped an elbow across his forehead. "That was getting to be a handful."

Donnel was busy trying to yank his lance free of the bandit's body, going so far as to place his foot on the corpse. He pulled with all his might, and it came loose, causing him to stumble back. "I-I'm mighty sorry, your highness," the country boy said. "If only I was just a mite stronger, than you wouldn't hafta protect me."

"No worries, Donny," Chrom said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're plenty strong as it is. Now let's go. There is only one room left." He gave Don a hearty slap on the back and fastened his grip on _Falchion_ before walking forward.

Inside the next room was another shirtless man, with pinkish red hair that fell to his shoulders. He was massive, perhaps a foot taller than Chrom and broader than Frederick was. He was stuffing some objects into a large bag when we walked in, and he cast a glance over his shoulder when he noticed us. On his back was a pair of axes, the smaller one clearly meant for throwing, and the larger one a massive two-handed beast of a weapon. As he turned around to fully face us, he drew the larger axe and let it rest blade-first on the dirt. Across his face, there was a red smear, which accented his livid expression.

"Now just who do you think you are coming into Roddick's territory?" he said in a low voice, taking a step toward us with a twisted snarl on his face. "This is my land, and I don't take too kindly to trespassers."

"And the villages whose land you destroyed?" Chrom asked, and I could hear his grip tightening on _Falchion's_ hilt. "How did they feel about their land being treaded upon?"

"They were weak," Roddick growled, hefting his axe up with both hands. "And the opinion of the weak holds no sway over the strong man's hand. Allow me to teach you a lesson on that, blue blood." He ran toward us, and Chrom ran to meet his charge. I had every confidence in Chrom's ability to win this fight, but that was all thrown out the window as Roddick brought his axe up in a mighty swing, knocking _Falchion_ from the prince's grasp, the force of the blow sending Chrom to the ground, as well.

"You royals need to learn your place in this world," Roddick muttered, standing over the grounded prince. Then he raised his axe up, ready to end this fight early.

My arm moved before my mind did, stretching out toward Chrom as the words, "Watch out!" escaped my lips. It wasn't much, but my accidental Flux saved Chrom's life, at least for the moment. The pillar of darkness slammed into Roddick's chest, making him stumble, his heavy axe falling to his side.

Chrom used the opportunity to roll away. He took quick looks around, but I could tell that his sword was nowhere in sight. Roddick turned on me now. His eyes held all the fury a man could have, and he let out a furious roar. I saw his hand reach for the hilt sticking just past his shoulder, and my heart skipped a beat.

"Aah!" I cried. "I didn't want to have to do this!" I put my hands together, holding my tome in both hands and held the book forwards. Robin told me back in Ferox that, in a last ditch effort, channeling extra magic into the tome would allow for an even more powerful spell, but would consume exponentially more uses, so to only do this in emergencies, but…

I didn't have many options. The golden magic circles surrounded my hands, and just the force from casting the spell sent me sliding a few feet. This version of Flux wasn't a pillar of darkness, but rather a straight beam. It shot through Roddick, piercing his torso and going past him. When the beam ended, however, he was still standing, albeit with the help of his battleaxe.

I went to cast another Flux, but couldn't even raise my arm. The shot took a lot out of me, and I dropped to my knees. That was when I heard the fearsome cry of a boy taking charge.

"GIT READY!"

I turned to see Donnel running toward Roddick, lance drawn back preemptively. Roddick reached again for the hand axe on his back, but flinched, and Donny got in close. The farm boy took a mighty leap, and stabbed his lance through Roddick's chest. The bandit boss was knocked down onto his back, Donnel standing on top of him, holding tight to his bronze lance. In a defiant last effort, Roddick attempted to raise his arm. To do what, I couldn't say, as it dropped back to the ground without rising more than a few inches.

"We..." Donnel was out of breath, and so was I. We were both panting heavily, my hands on my knees and him using his lance as a cane after he managed to pull it free. "We did it!"

Zach

I woke up to being jostled, and had to blink multiple times until the blurriness went away. I was confused as to why the ceiling was composed of grey stone in oppose to the light-coloured wood that comprised my room. This… was not my room. Where was I?

I turned my head to the side to see Robin sitting on the side of the bed. She had a soft, warm smile on her face, and her snow-white hair was styled into a single, twirling ponytail. "How did you sleep?" she asked.

I sat up, scratching my head. "Good," I said, looking around. "Where… why was I sleeping in your room? What…" My sleep-muddled mind was having trouble wording the question that I wanted to ask.

"You cried yourself to sleep," the tactician said, "and I didn't want to wake you, so I just let you lay on my bed for a few hours."

A few hours? "Fuuuuuuuuuuuck," I said, a yawn sprouting up halfway through the curse. I sat up and stretched my arms. "What time is it?"

"The afternoon," she said. "I figured you'd want to wake up and enjoy some of the day, at least."

"Yeah, you're right." I couldn't waste an entire day, even if I wanted too. But one thing itched at the forefront of my mind, right now. I fucking cried myself to sleep in Robin's arms. And she just… let me. "Thank you. For, you know, everything. I was a bit off a mess today."

"I understand. That couldn't have been easy to go through."

"I've never felt this way, Robin," I said. I couldn't have worked it into the conversation smoother, but I was never one with words, and I needed to get this off my chest. "I haven't reacted this strongly to something in, gods, it's been years. I haven't genuinely cried in years. It's scary to be thrown back into these emotions like this." But it meant that I could feel, which was a twisted sort of consolation. "Anyway," I shook my head, "I'm just thankful that you, you know." What a smooth talker.

"Of course," Robin said, nodding. "Any time you need to talk, feel free to come to me. I'll be glad to help. I'm sure Chrom would be, too. Or Sumia, even. Or Lissa. We're all here, Zach."

"Yes, I know." She stood up and helped me to my feet. I was going to have to think of something to do to pass the time, today. Probably train. One could always afford to get stronger, and I had the time. There was something I was forgetting, I knew it, but I also knew that I wouldn't be able to recall what it was right now. But Robin made it easy for me.

"Speaking of," the tactician said. "Do you still want to go on that date?"

I smirked. "But I already bawled my eyes out."

"Yeah," she shrugged, "but I'm getting hungry, and you said you were going to buy me food."

"I don't remember saying that."

"Well I remember you saying that," she said, "and I'm right." I shook my head, but conceded, my smile growing. My goddamn anchor.

 **AN: Good evening, y'all. I'm sorry that this chapter took so damn long, but I hope that it being an extra large one is some consolation.**

 **So a weakness of mine is emotional scenes. I adore them, but I have absolutely no idea how to write them. Like, whatever you see here is me just… fuckin' winging it. Which is why Zach is cycling through the same emotional stuff over and over again, but I figure eh, in this situation it works.**

 **Also, this is the first non-Zach dominant chapter. Tell me what you guys think. Making the fight scenes with Krystal was a lot harder than I was expecting, but I hope it turned out. I thought it did, at least toward the end. I tried to keep from using some of my normal writing mannerisms during the Krystal portions, to take away the "Zach touch" and leave room for other personality. For instance, I think I used "though" only twice in her parts, while I normally use it excessively.**

 **Anyway, new chappie, tell me what you think, as I look forward to your reviews. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!**

 **All of the Oats have left the building.**


	11. Chapter 10: It's a Secret

_**A/N: Hey All you Oats! Unfortunately, Good old 111 has decided to leave this project for better, more profitable opportunities. He passes along his thanks for supporting him and how well you guys have committed to him.**_

 _ **Just kidding…**_

 _ **No, 111 has just had a bit of temporary writer's block, and has asked me to step in and write a chapter for him, as it was my idea, and so he can get past that dreadful condition.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: both of us are poor, we own nothing made by INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS or Nintendo, All we do own is 111's OC, the others are The Creators' property. (You know who you are)**_

 _ **Anyways, sorry for the long notes here, let's get to it!**_

 _ **-Storm**_

It was dark, too dark. I couldn't see anything, not even my own hand, which I as certain I was waving mere inches from my face. Then everything burst to life, and I found myself under the canopy of thin trees. A dread filled me, hopeless and cold. I heard it over and over, echoing. It wasn't something I had even heard before, but I recognized it, oddly enough.

Useless, useless, useless. The whole thing. The pity, the sorrow, this place, and myself. None of them needed to be here, not one thing. I didn't deserve pity—it was my fault. I didn't deserve to be sorry—it wasn't my place. I didn't deserve anything. I shouldn't have been here. Why was I here? Where was I?

There was a laugh. I recognized the voice, but couldn't place it to a face. It brought a strange feeling to my chest, another thing I couldn't fully realize, but I did notice the pressure. The voice's owner gave me a push. The darkness came swirling back, but alongside it was a mix of blues and greens, then a flash of silver, and I felt myself falling.

 **First POV**

 **Zach**

I woke up with a gasp, my breathing unsteady. I reached up and touched my face; my cheeks were wet. I had been crying. I let out a sigh and swung my legs over the side of the bed. Gods, this was getting ridiculous, out of hand. I thought talking to Robin would have helped, and perhaps it had, but…

Suddenly, a rapid amount of hard, brash knocks was received by my door. I quickly got dressed and moved over to answer it.

Only to get the door shoved back into my face by Vaike.

"Argh, gods dammit, dude, what the faaahh…" I groaned at him, squeezing my eyes shut and turning away, clutching my nose. Fuck, that hurt. I opened my once-more tear filled eyes to see Vaike standing there, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward look on his face.

"Whoops, Teach totally didn't see ya there Zach. Anyways, I'll let you take over from here." He gestured to his right side, where I couldn't see past the door frame. He took a step away, but popped back into view momentarily. "Also, Zach, you might want to get that nose looked at." Vaike said as he left to go downstairs, chuckling.

"Good Morning, Zach." Robin smirked at me, leaning against the left side of the door frame. Her smile died when she saw how watery my eyes were, her face going rigid with concern, and she said, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, rubbing my nose. "I think so. I'm pretty sure Vaike broke my fuckin' nose, though."

Robin's expression softened. "Let me look at it." I moved my hands away from my nose, and she moved closer to get a good look. "I'm not a medic," she said after a moment, "but I'd say that it's broken." I silently cured. "You should go have Lissa take a look at it."

"I might just do that," I said, trying my best to smile. Gods, of course this would happen. Just my luck. Then I remembered that Robin was here for something. "Anyway, what did you need?"

She gave me a strange look, then perked up when she realized what I was referring to. "Oh, right. We're heading back to Ferox for about a couple of days to sit down and discuss plans for protecting ourselves from Plegia." Ferox would mean marching. Nice. "Don't worry, it's mostly going to be Chrom and I talking anyway, and I thought the rest of the Shepherds could use a little something to do after the whole 'Maribelle' situation."

"Alright," I said, nodding. Some more relaxation would be appreciated. "When are we takin' off?"

"In about an hour, so you'd better hurry. Frederick is already upset that we have to leave the Halidom for so long, and looks impatient," she frowned. I shuddered internally after remembering the stories of his fabled "fitness hour" that I'd read. Yeah, I had to hurry. I was not getting into any of that shit.

Suffice to say, the morning went by in a blur. I had always been good at getting ready quickly, so I was actually ready before most of the other Shepherds. I had time to spare, and went to find Lissa, hoping she could do something about my nose. She managed to get it straight, and said it wasn't severe enough to need a healing staff, but offered to use one if I really wanted. I declined, said my thanks and wandered outside to wait. Be it fortunate or otherwise, I ran into Vaike on the way.

"Hey Zach, you all ready?" He asked politely, for a change. I nodded my head. "Great, that means we can spar! Teach needs a little practice, and Chrom ain't around, so what do you say?" It was like he was asking me for a chance to get my revenge after his use of the door this morning.

"Fine, let's do it then." I said, grinning. "Alright, then, ready when you are."

We were able to clear a large enough circle for both of us to have some breathing room before pulling out a pair of practice weapons. I didn't know where Vaike managed to get a practice axe: though the more that I thought about it, it was really just a polished stick that was fat at one end, more of a practice club, really.

Vaike laughed, calling, "Teach is comin' at ya'!" He charged at me with a wide overhead swing, and I almost smiled at how predictable the attack was. In response, I rolled to his side when he came closer, rising up with a vertical swing. My practice sword lashed against his bare back, and I hopped away. It was nice having a fight like this: the stakes weren't very high, and it was strangely calming. I was relaxed.

The Teach spun around, swinging in the same motion. The wanton swing left him wide open once again, and I came at him. I gave a stab, catching him right under the ribs, then rolled to his side when he brought his club down, sending up a puff of dust where I'd been standing a second ago. I delivered another smack, and Vaike let out a frustrated yell. His anger made me smile; it was nice to be on this side of the frustration for once. But, I wasn't going to be too mean to him. I would end this quick.

He turned to face me and, instead of the scowl on his face I expected, he bore a bright smile paired with fierce eyes. He was enjoying this too, despite not having touched me. With a roar, he brought his axe up, and spun around, 360 degrees. I hopped out of range, and he followed up with an angled overhead swing. The attack was aimed for where I would have rolled, if I had rolled. Unfortunately for Vaike, that wasn't my choice of action. Instead, I dove forward, and hooked my practice sword around his ankles and pulled, heaving the fighter off of his feet and to the ground. I quickly scrambled up and placed my foot on his chest, leveling the point of my weapon at his throat.

"Good game," I said, and he smiled. I helped him to his feet and shook his hand, sharing his smile. Vaike took my weapon and walked off to put it away. We had apparently drawn a small crowd, as well. Standing around us were a few of the Shepherds. Chrom walked up to me afterward and clapped a hand to my shoulder.

"It seems you're getting stronger quickly," the prince said, grinning. "We'll have to spar again soon. If you're already strong enough to beat Vaike, then I want to see how much better you've gotten for myself."

"Sure, I'm up for it."

"You know I will hold you to that," Chrom said with a smirk.

"I don't doubt it."

Did I forget to mention that Ferox was cold as shit? Gods damn, how did Vaike and Basilio walk around here practically shirtless? Like, it got cold back home sometimes, but the average here was like lows back home.

As we made it across the Longfort, without incident this time, we got a private escort to the capital. We were once more given our own individual rooms, but they were more sporadic and spread out, as diplomats from districts across Ferox were meeting here, likely to discuss the oncoming war with Plegia, as well.

I dropped my stuff next to my bed and collapsed on to it, happy to be in the warm room. It was just as basic as last time, but I wasn't going to complain. I was inside a warm castle, hidden away from the frigid wind outside. That was fine by me. And after marching all day? I was more than happy to seek sleep under the covers.

 **~◊Ω◊~**

 **Emile**

As I woke up in the barracks, the sun was just beginning to poke its rays out from the east. Nearly the crack of dawn, it looked like these people couldnt go without sleeping until noon. Oh well, better let them rest. Man I hoped Zach had a plan for whatever it is we're doing here, but after that whole battle with Gangrel, he hasn't been himself. It's like he's been cutting himself off from everyone, but why?

A quiet knocking sounded at my door, and Stahl quietly poked his head into the room, and noticing me awake, asked if I wanted breakfast. I said yes, then went back to putting on my boots. No armor for now, no real reason to need it. Now what was I doing again?

"Hey Emile, you coming?" I heard Stahl call me from the door, "Yeah, I'm on my way, just hang on." I whispered. Rushing to meet up with him, it was fairly quiet in the castle, which to say the least was not surprising at this hour, but not even a servant was to be found. I relayed this back to Stahl who responded with a light laugh. "They are all in the kitchen, preparing a meal for us and the Feroxi men, let's just say we aren't the only ones who get up early." What was that supposed to mean?

As we entered the mess hall, it was filled to the brim with Feroxi soldiers, and even a few Shepherds. I noticed Chrom and Frederick were up, no doubt talking on how this conference was supposed to work. Miriel dotted from table to table inspecting the dishes of food and taking notes; not that surprising. And a cup was floating in the air near a corner of a wall, so Kellam was up as well. You'd think I would notice that. But wow a lot of people were in here. "HOLY SHIT, THERE IS A LOT OF PEOPLE IN HERE." I yelled. Stahl chuckled, shaking his head.

As we grabbed a plate and sit down to eat, Robin walked in, cloak draped around her, as if she was shivering from the cold. She came over and sat by me and Stahl. "Have you guys seen Zach anywhere?"

"He was still sleeping when I woke up, why?" I asked a bit questioningly. I could see her worried look fall with relief.

"Oh, well I found something that the Shepherds could do while the conferences take place."

"Hmmm, intea-, umm, intre- ugh, interesting, to say the least." I said. Wow that was bad.

"Yes it is to say the least. We've heard of bandits marauding caravans to the east of here, known only as the Twins' Turf. These bandits don't seem to mind taking down traders, but there are also villages out there, I need you guys to take care of this threat for us." The tactician said, slipping her arms into her sleeves.

Ok, this seemed to me like this is the first of the two Anna paralogues, where she was protecting a village against a large number of bandits. Mounted units other than fliers couldn't move fast through the woods that were prevalent in map, so it would have to be ground troops that move in.

"I'll take Zach, Dylan, Krystal, Vaike, Lon'qu, Lissa, and Kellam with me." That seems like a good balance of speed and defense that we'll need for this.

"I'm coming, too," Chrom said, walking up. Wait why was Chrom coming with us. "Why are you coming with us Chrom?" I asked. "What about the conference?"

"Frederick says he'll be able to handle it with Robin. Like I said, diplomacy is _not_ my strong suit. Besides, someone will need to make sure we hold the line." He winked at me. Oh well, Chrom would be useful against all the axe users, so why not? "Alright then, let's wait till everybody gets up and then we can move out."

"Sounds good to me. I'll send the rest of the shepherds to deal with those risen. Good luck to you all." She smiled as she walked out the door.

It looked like this day was about to get better and better.

 **~Ω~**

Well, after about a three-hour march, we met up with a caravan that looked to have just been waylaid, the traders picking their goods out of the snow. A wounded soldier was lying on the ground, blood pooling all around him, with a trader standing over him. "Blast… It seems all hope is lost. Still, hold fast. I'll treat your wounds…" The soldier was barely retaining his breath.

Yet, he still had enough energy to shakily grab the merchant's collar, "Ngh… I-It's t-too late…" and the hand fell to his chest, never to rise again.

The merchant closed his eyes and turned to look at us: "H-Hail travelers!"

Chrom immediately walked over to the trader. "What's happened here?!"

The merchant only shook his head and gave a part scared, part paranoid look. "Nothing but death ahead, travelers. I'd turn back if I were you... Whatever your business here, it will have to wait."

Chrom was even more put-off by this statement. "Just tell us what happened."

"Very well, Bandits have blocked the road ahead. They're demanding a king's ransom in illicit tolls for all who wish to pass. They are quite strong, one of our own is still near the village as we speak." He pointed to the northwest, to a series of small lights in the distance. "Who knows how long she will last."

Chrom just looked back at us. "They think to profiteer on refugees? Despicable. We have to go rescue that village and that trader."

The merchant began to speak to himself. "Our caravan's livelihood is at stake. We'll do no business in this country now..."

That was when Krystal piped up out of nowhere "Then we need to secure this supply line, or else those people will starve." And she slunk back as quickly as she had come.

Chrom looked adamantly to the village. "Then we'll secure it." He then turned to the merchant. "You and your caravan can wait here. We'll let you know when it's safe." The merchant nodded in agreement.

We ran along the road until we reached a large forest, to see some brigands in plain view beyond the burly trees. Two bridges were visible beyond that, one crossing a river to another forest in the direction of the village, the other leading to a series of small flats separated by a series of waterways.

"Alright, since Robin isn't here, looks like it's up to me to decide the strategy" Chrom explained to everyone. He began thinking, and then said "I got nothing other than a straight charge... Anybody else got any bright ideas?"

"I could fly someone over to the village to assist the trader and to keep the village out of the brigands' hands," Dylan offered.

"Sounds good to me, we'll give you some space to take off, and take care of any archers on this end that may try to shoot you down, but you're on your own afterward."

"Doesn't matter to me, I'll take Emile and Krystal over. The rest of you guys keep them distracted while I make the flight." He turned to the two of us "It'll be more of a fly-by then anything, just be prepared for the landing. Krystal, stay with me and as I move to attack groups, use your tome to take care of any stragglers."

"Okay then," I smirked, "Let's go take care of this siti, situaion, ugh Situation then." That elicited a few quiet laughs among the shepherds.

"Alright, Vaike and I will head the assault on the bridges, Lon'qu and Zach, I will need you two to deal with any archers that might cause some problems for Dylan. Dylan can't move Krystal and Emile until they are gone. Then, get back to us as soon as possible. Kellam, you're going to guard the bridges from any possible splinter groups of bandits trying to take it back. And before you ask, yes I can see you. Lissa, you stay here in this flat, and only move up when the forest near the village has been secured. Anyone who needs healing just fall back to Lissa. As for the leader, we will wait until the village is secured and consolidate our forces near the intersection of the two bridges. Any questions?" Nobody raised their hands. "Well then, let's get to it!" He yelled and joined Vaike in emerging from the woods, followed by Kellam, in sprinting for the bridges to deal with the two myrmidons and barbarian near it.

Lon'qu and Zach immediately moved to deal with the 5 archers to the north, I decided to help, and Krystal casted a few fluxes at one of the archers, the dark magic essentially wisping through his body, stealing his life away. Lon'qu and Zach had sliced apart the first two archers, leaving me with two more. One of them quickly raised his bow and fired, nearly hitting my left pauldron. He was met with a knee to his gut and a lance through his chest. As I dislodged my weapon the other archer fired, hitting and deflecting off of the armor on my back, I yanked my lance free, swept the archer's feet out from under him, and proceeded to stab him in the throat. With archers gone, Dylan shifted into his bird form.

"You ready?" he grumbled. I nodded and moved near one of his large talons while Krystal mounted on his back.

"Good luck you two," Zach said as both him and Lon'qu moved to rejoin with Chrom, who had successfully taken care of the bridge and was clearing the other. As Dylan took flight, I quickly jumped into his outstretched talon. Dylan veered to the northwest and began gaining some altitude.

Wow, it was a lot colder up here than on the ground. Hopefully Krystal won't have such a hard time dealing with this cold. Should've got her a coat or something back in Ferox. Dylan finally jogged me out of my thoughts with a quick move of his talon. "We are nearing the drop zone, are you ready?" he said.

"Ready as I'm going to be." I quickly said back.

He began to descend, and about 10 feet off the ground, let go of me as I hurtled down to the surface, landing on top of an unsuspecting barbarian; a quick stab to his throat silenced any call for help. I then moved to the village, where an elder was astonished by what was going on. "That peddler woman was fighting to protect the village, you say? That kind of warmth is more than welcome in these cold lands. Here. Please use this to heal her if she's hurt."

He then handed me a heal staff, which I was going to give to Anna when I saw her. Oh look, there she was, with 3 barbarians and 2 archers on her tail. Well, not going to be able to do much to the barbarians, but I might be able to handle the archers.

I quickly sprinted toward the two, who had their attention on Anna, and knocked one to the ground with a helicopter strike to his head, while using my lance to knock the other archer's bow out of his hands and using a forward kick to knock him to the ground. As the first archer began to recover, I instantly stabbed him through the chest, the blood coming in waves now.

When I went to pull out my lance, it got stuck in the ribcage, and I was struck with a sharp, piercing pain in my shoulder. When I looked behind, I saw the scene before me.

The other archer had recovered, and upon the loss of his bow, had taken one of his arrows and stabbed me through a joint in my left pauldron and my back plate. As he went in for another stab toward my right side, I used his momentum against him, and flew a vicious elbow right into his face, knocking him back a few feet. When I left my lance and whirled around to face him, blood was flowing profusely from the bridge of his nose. Which is when I delivered a savage knee to his ribs and tackled him onto his right side, leaving his quiver exposed. Without thinking, I grabbed an arrow and stabbed it into his left shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain. I yanked out the arrow and stabbed it right into his left eye, ensuring he would never rise again.

As I got up, I retrieved my lance from the first archer's body and handed the heal staff to Anna, who had just finished off the last barbarian. She was utterly taken aback at my appearance. "Wow, for me? Thank you. But…" she paused, giving me a once-over. "Who are you? And it looks like you didn't come from the village, so where did you come from?" She asked inquisitively.

"No time to talk about that right now. I'm Emile, are you ok? You seem fine." I noticed.

"Yes, I'm fine, but it's sweet all the same, handsome." Handsome? Well there was a new one.

"Do you mind if we fight together, you seem capable enough. Together we can take care of these roughs, rooves, man, rogues I mean." I replied sheepishly.

"Aw, you ARE worried! That's adorable! I welcome the assistance." She said back enthusiastically. Wow, adorable? I don't even know where she gets that from. "Here let me heal you quick, no cost, or else that arrow wound may bleed you dry."

"Alright, but do it quickly." In a matter of seconds I was all healed up and ready to go. As we began making our way south, we got drawn back into the brawl. Kellam and Chrom were holding the bridges just fine, and Vaike's little trio was taking good care of some barbarians up front. Then, a group of 10 fighters, 4 Barbarians, two archers, and 4 myrmidons, respectively. I knew we had a fight on our hands, at least until the giant bird with dark magic coming from its back swooped in, taking down all of the myrmidons and archers. And landing to deal with the Barbarians. In a matter of seconds, the large force was decimated by the two beings which formed the flying killing machine. As we joined up with the rest of our force, Vaike's trifecta had cleared the southern portion of the forest, ensuring an easy link-up with the others.

All that was left was the boss-I forget his name off the top of my head. Victor? Vincent? One of those two anyway-and his two Barbarian bodyguards. There was also a soldier there as well. We eyed each other up and knew it would end here. Vaike was going to take care of the two barbarians, while Krystal and Dylan dealt with the soldier. My job was to provide an opening in Whatever His Name's defense so Chrom could deal with him. Vaike and Dylan went to work, with vaikes heavy axe and fists turning the two barbarians' large heads into mush. Dylan had essentially decapitated the soldier and had only received a slight bruise on his beak. Yet, the red-armored berserker still stood there, short axe gripped tightly.

He then said "Give up now! I was born a Victor, and victory will be mine!" Oh so _Victor_ was his name! Well then, as soon as he said that he threw his axe at me, which I narrowly sidestepped, and I began sprinting toward him. He threw another axe, which I slid under. Another axe was narrowly sidestepped, and I finally jumped over an axe thrown right for my legs. As I landed, I prepared a strike leveled for Victor's shoulder, which the berserker quickly grabbed and pulled me toward him, yet another axe poised to strike. Before he had the chance, I closed the distance and delivered an uppercut right to his chin, and quickly yanked my lance free, then sidestepped and ducked under his two retaliating strikes. This was the opening Chrom needed. I delivered a quick kick to his knee and watched as the blue-haired prince sliced right through the armor encasing Victor's Right shoulder, and followed up with a diagonal slash right through his jugular, Chrom turned away and let the corpse fall to the ground.

We congratulated ourselves on a well and hard-fought battle. Even Anna was impressed with our fighting, and along with the merchants, thanked us for everything we had done. "Well, we should get back to Ferox, it's nearing sunset after all." Chrom remarked. Oh well, it was still a day well spent.

 **~Ω~**

We made it back to the Feroxi palace a few hours before dark. Zach retired to his room early, saying he was tired and marching really took it out of him. Lon'qu did likewise, but I suspected that I was due to him being edgy and antisocial. Frederick immediately began informing Chrom about the meeting, following at the prince's heels as they talked. Robin was nowhere to be found.

I asked Krystal about it as she, Dylan and I walked through the palace. She seemed nervous to be in conversation with me, but said, "W-well, it seems like her and Zach have been spending a lot of time together recently."

"What are you implying?" I asked, curious.

"I believe she's saying that it looks like Zach and our tactician are getting a little more than friendly," Dylan chimed in, hands in his pockets. "Is that right, Krystal?"

The dark mage's face went red. "I-I suppose that is one way to say it," she replied, turning away. "But y-you made it sound more, um, indecent."

I chuckled a little. "Yeah, Dylan, the way you said it, you made it sound like they're hooking up. Maybe even right now?" I smirked, nudging the laguz. Based on the small noise Krystal made, the thought made her more and more embarrassed.

"That is an interesting thought," he said. He looked ready to say more, but stopped when a pair of guards walked by. When they were out of earshot, he continued, but his words took the conversation down a different turn. "Just between the three of us," he said, leaning closer. "Zach has been acting very weird lately. Have you noticed?"

I nodded. "Yeah, he's been really reclusive and quiet." Even if I hadn't known him for long, I could tell that this was not his normal behavior, considering how nice and casual he was when I met him.

"Abnormally quiet," Krystal murmured. Her blush was gone, replaced with a look of abject worry. "It's strange. When did he start acting like this?"

"Well," I looked up to the ceiling, stroking my chin in thought. He was friendly on the way down from Ferox the first time, and in the battle where we rescued Maribelle, well, I hadn't seen him much then, but afterward… He was sticking really close to Sumia, but he hadn't been acting too strangely, had he? It was when we got back that I really noticed it. He went to his room as soon as we got to Ylisse, just like tonight. Something happened either on the way to Ylisse or during the battle. "I think it was in that last battle, when Maribelle was captured."

"I think you may be right," Dylan said, nodding sagely. "It was probably then that he started hanging around Robin a lot, too. They could have been hanging out longer, however. I haven't been with the Shepherds since before Ferox, so I'm not one to say."

"Maybe we can ask Robin about it," I blurted without thinking. I wasn't expecting either of them to agree to this random idea, and when Dylan actually looked to be considering it, I stopped walking and gave him a strange look.

"Maybe we can," was all he said.

 **Hey, it's Oats here! So as Storm said above, I had no ideas of what to do for this chapter, but I really wanted another interlude before we got into the thick of things. So, I asked him about it and, considering it was his idea, I let him write it. He wrote everything aside from the Zach POV at the beginning and the little bit at the end, after the last timeskip. So yeah, give him some love, it was an honour to have his help.**

 **One thing I want to say: The geography of Awakening is a little different than that of this story. In-game, Plegia and Ylisse take up half of the Ylisse continent together, and Ferox takes up the other half. In F &B, Plegia and Ferox take up more space. Ylisse is smaller, so it is more quickly traversed. Ferox is absolutely massive, though most of it is left untouched because it goes so far north.**

 **Anyway, that's all I have to say. Thank you, Storm, for writing most of this chapter. I appreciate it a lot. And Happy New Year to all of You!**

 **All of the Oats have left the building.**


	12. Chapter 11: Foreseer

**Hey, I don't own a thing, but I'm feelin' good!**

Robin said she would be there in a moment after Dylan's second knock. Krystal was hiding meekly behind the laguz, clearly apprehensive about being here. I didn't know why she bothered coming, if she didn't want to, and almost said as much when Robin's door opened. She wore a soft smile when she opened the door, but it died down and blatant confusion took over.

"Um… good evening," the tactician said, leaning against the doorframe and crossing her arms. She wasn't wearing her cloak, and her white hair was let down, falling over her shoulders. "Can I help you?"

Krystal and I looked between each other, the dark mage peeking from behind Dylan, who, in our stead, began to say, "I believe so. You see, we've noticed that a certain myrmidon has been acting a little…" his mouth pressed into a firm line as he sought the word he wanted. "Off."

"Okay?"

"Zach's been very recec—recu, er, _reclusive_ , as of late," I chimed in, "which is very strange, as he seemed to be anything but when I spoke with him before."

"Same here," Dylan said. Robin narrowed her eyes, then stood up straight, no longer using the doorframe as support. I could see her eyes running over the three—well, the two of us, Dylan and I. The laguz shook his head, likely seeing the same look in the tactician's eyes. He gestured forward, saying, "Look, we know Zach's been hanging around you, recently, too, so you have to know at least something as to why he's been acting so strange."

Robin nodded, her expression softening. "You would be right about that." Her arms loosened, more so they were clutching one another just below her chest. "Though I don't think it's my place to tell you what's going on. Sorry."

"I understand," I said, shrugging. That made sense. If I were being affected by something, I would want to be the one that told people about it. "We'll just have to ask Zach about it." Robin looked ready to protest that, but resigned herself. "Talk to you later."

I turned to walk away, and Dylan followed. Krystal lingered for a moment, and I heard her quiet, "Goodbye, Robin," as she left with us.

 **~◊Ω◊~**

 **Zach**

The march back to Ylisse was uneventful. And cold. We left Ferox in the morning, so the cold was bitter, its chill unabated by the accompanying wind. Ylisse was pleasant however, the weather staying at a comfortable temperature with a gentle breeze. It wasn't a wonder why this country was considered so peaceful.

When we got back, I wanted to returned to my room, as I was tired, like I had been the past few days, even if it was only a little past noon. Chrom, however, had different ideas for my day, and came up to me, asking to speak. "What's up?" I asked as we walked through the gardens of Ylisstol castle.

The prince walked with his hands behind his back, not looking at me as he spoke. "During the last battle, I noticed something peculiar about your fighting." I gave him a strange look, but he didn't see it. "You were like a mirror of Lon'qu, copying his every move. Every slash he made, you copied."

"It worked, didn't it?" I asked, hooking my thumbs on my belt. "I mean, we took down all of the archers."

"True enough," Chrom admitted, nodding. "But Lon'qu won't be there for every battle, and there will be plenty of times where you will have to act alone. Will you rely on pure instinct like before?"

I narrowed my eyes. "You make it sound like that didn't work. What are you getting at?"

Chrom stopped walking and turned to me, gaze hard. "I'm saying that as it is now, you aren't improving much as a swordsman," he said. "If you want to improve, you cannot keep fighting this way. You need to develop a style, a way of fighting that you can perfect and work on, to actually know what you're doing; it doesn't look like you do now."

My mouth opened and closed, before I finally settled with it shut. Where was this coming from? This was very sudden, but… He wasn't wrong. In all of the battles up until now, I had been acting without any forethought, just doing what felt right, the possibility of its success or relevance never dawning on me. In the last battle, that thoughtlessness wasn't a luxury I had. My mind was constantly racing, my heart not far behind. To ease my thoughts, I had focused on Lon'qu, copying his movements so I could do something and keep myself distracted as I did. It worked, luckily, but Chrom was right. It wouldn't eventually. I needed to do something about that. "Develop a style?"

The prince nodded, placing his hands on his hips. "Yes. It doesn't necessarily have to be your own; I can train you in the Ylissean fighting technique, if you'd like, too." He shrugged as he said the last part, and I gave him a small smile.

"I'll think on that, Chrom," I said. "Thank you."

"Of course," he said, clapping a hand on my shoulder and smiling for the first time in our little talk. " There are some books on other fighting techniques in the library as well, if you're interested, but I can't promise any of the Shepherds will be able to help you with them." I gave him another nod. "Tell me when you decide." With that, he walked off back the way we came. I remained walking down that way for some time, lost in thoughts of potential fighting styles.

I really didn't know any techniques. I knew a few basic stances, like the Ko Gasumi, but that was the extent of my knowledge. A broader question would be what type of style was I looking for? Did I want an offensive style? A defensive style, with more armour than I had and perhaps a small shield like the myrmidons in Echoes? Or pure evasion, with minimal defense? Or a mix of them? I didn't even have any ideas how many techniques there were in the books like Chrom said, either, so there was something to look forward to.

I stepped into the library, and found Sumia in there already. "Hello," I said early, so as to not startle her. She looked up from the book she was reading and smiled at me. We hadn't spoken since the day we got Maribelle back, also known as 'the time I cried into her shoulder after almost dying before she saved my life', so yeah. "It's been awhile."

"It has," the Pegasus knight agreed, dog-earing the corner of her page and closing her book before setting it down on her lap. "How have you been?"

"Good, all things considered," I answered, taking a seat next to her. She must have changed since we'd been back, as she was wearing her Pegasus knight armour on the way, but was now wearing a light grey dress. Her hair was still the same, though. "How about you?"

"I've been good." I nodded, looking away. We sat in silence for a minute. I tried to think of something to say, and she waited, book closed. I glanced at the book and recognized it, realizing simultaneously that I had just found a topic of conversation, as well. "Is that the book I found for you?"

Sumia looked down at her book and picked it up, smiling again. "Yes, _the Jewels of Fire_. It started out fairly quickly. Within the first few chapters, the princess' father was—" she cut herself off, clapping a hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't say anything about the story. You haven't read it, after all, have you?"

"No," I answered, smiling at the fact that she resisted spoiling the story. I already knew the plot of Sacred Stones, but Sumia didn't know that. "I don't plan on reading it anyway, so go ahead."

She seemed unsure, but nodded. "Alright, well in the first few chapters, the kingdom of Renais is attacked by its neighbouring kingdom, and the princess is rescued from the castle by a loyal knight. The princess, Eirika, flees to another neighbouring country, while her father falls in the throne room of the castle."

"That is pretty fast paced," I said, the thought that all Fire Emblem stories began with just as much vigour rising to my mind.

Sumia nodded, getting into her explanation. "Yes, and Eirika's brother, Ephraim, crossed over into the enemy country, Grado, and took the fight to them alongside three knights."

"Just three knights?" I asked, trying to sound surprised. I wanted to play into this as much as I could. She was really invested in telling this to me, and I would have hated to ruin that by letting her know I already knew most story. Plus, that could have raised questions about me that I didn't want to get involved in.

"Yes!" Sumia said enthusiastically. "Meanwhile, Eirika is working on getting allies to fight Grado. Joining in the fight is Frelia's prince Innes and princess Tana, and some of Frelia's other soldiers."

"What happened next?" I asked, genuinely. I actually couldn't remember. It had been too long since I'd played Sacred Stones, so my memory was failing me. I hadn't played through it as many times as I had Awakening, either, and I was still apparently forgetting parts of this.

"Umm…" The Pegasus knight frowned. "I haven't actually read that far. I admit, I haven't been reading too much recently."

"Huh. Well, why don't you read it now?"

"What?"

"Yeah, why not? We can read it together, too," I offered. I couldn't remember what I came in here for, anyway, so I didn't have anything else to do. "Unless you have anything else going on?"

"Are you sure?" I nodded. "Alright," Sumia said, flipping the book open to her marked page. She began to read aloud, and I sat there, listening attentively. We sat there for at least an hour, with her reading the story with gusto. She was, for lack of a better word, enthusiastic about the reading, and I found myself enthralled, even if this was just me recalling a story I'd taken in already. Whoever had written this was an amazing writer. The style of writing was enthralling in its own way, and putting a literary spin on Sacred Stones was certainly intriguing. That left me wondering who wrote it. I thought about asking as one point, but decided to not interrupt Sumia as she read.

It was neat how the Pegasus knight read aloud. She would give a different tinge to her voice depending on who was talking in the story, and was never monotone. She would emphasize certain words, then trail off on some sentences. Whenever the mood was somber, she would lower her voice. Whenever it there was an exciting or dramatic part, there would be passion in her voice. It was almost like she believed she was there, living the story with them. It was magnificent to behold, watching just how into this she got. The only times there wasn't a smile on her face was when the book took a turn into a serious part, at which point, she would use her serious, low voice. I smiled the entire time. A few times, I got carried away in watching her act out the characters that I had to snap away and refocus on actually listening to her read.

Actually, it was a lot longer than an hour that we sat there. By the time we stopped, I could see pink in the sky through the large library window due to the sunset. We wouldn't have even stopped there if I hadn't yawned, snapping her from her immersion. When I did, I looked away and saw the sunset beginning. "Are you getting tired?" Sumia had asked, holding her hand down on the page so as to not lose her place.

"No," I lied, stifling another yawn. I was always tired. "But I think we had best take a break for now." At her confused expression, I pointed to the window, and she followed with her eyes the direction of my finger.

"Gods, its already sunset," Sumia yelped, startled by how quickly the time had passed. If I had to guess, we had been reading for three or four hours. "Maybe you are right." She dog-eared the page and closed the book, then sighed. "We've wasted almost an entire day."

"I'd hardly call it a waste," I said. "I had fun listening to you read."

"Really?" she asked, genuinely surprised. It was like she didn't know how enthusiastically she read. Maybe she was just that immersed?

"Yeah," I said, grinning. "It's nice to spend time reading every once in a while. Back home, not a lot of people really read anymore, so it was refreshing to spend time with someone who does."

"Aw, thanks, Zach," she said, smiling back. There was a faint blush on her face, but I figured that was just from the me saying I had fun. She stood up, and I did the same, stretching my back until it cracked. "It is nice to sit down and read for a while, isn't it?"

"Yep," I chimed in, then grabbed onto the chair for support as a sudden wave of dizziness hit me. _Ah, shit_. Really? After coming into this world, the powers that be decided to grant me skill with a sword and a cosmetic improvement enough to at least be on par with this divine beings that were Fire Emblem characters, but getting rid of headrush after sitting too long? HO HO, nope, that was where they crossed the fucking line. My vision dimmed around the edges as I played off the dizziness—something I had gotten good at over the years—and I blinked once or twice. "Oof," I breathed, quietly enough that Sumia didn't hear.

I watched as her smile transitioned, faltering into a frown, her brow furrowing at the same time. Her grey eyes seemed conflicted, looking down at the ground before shooting up at me. "Wait, what do you mean that people don't read where you're from anymore? Why wouldn't they read? Everyone read; I even see Vaike pick up the occasional book and skim through it."

I blanched. I had said too much. I wasn't thinking and I let a detail of Earth slip through. Ah, shit. _Quick, think of something, think of something!_ I opened my mouth, raising my finger to accentuate whatever point I was probably about to make, then I spun around on my heel and sped out of the room, leaving a confused and concerned Sumia in my wake.

It didn't occur to me until I was already several halls away that I could have played it off rather easily. I could have just said that people never took the time to read, or if they did, it was by themselves. Hell, I could have even said that most people back home didn't even learn to read. That would have been better than turning tail and running! "Fuckin' idiot," I muttered to myself, still walking through the empty halls of the palace. Still, I shouldn't have slipped up like that. I was lucky that it was such a small slip, but if I didn't keep that shit in check, then I could bring trouble not only upon myself, but Dylan, Krystal, and Emile. While I was perfectly fine with accepting the penalty of my own mistakes, I was not about to let others pay them with me.

Now that those three were on my mind, I realized that I hadn't really talked to them in a while. The last time we really spoke was when… actually, I couldn't remember when it was. Probably before we rescued Maribelle? I wondered if they'd met up without me at all. Most likely, as I wasn't an integral part of the group. They could get along without me just fine.

Even so, I would have to try and talk to them, catch up on the last few days, explain my out-of-character absence if they were interested. They deserved that much, at least.

I found my way to my room and dropped onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling. Gods, I was tired. I was exhausted, but I couldn't sleep. I'd heard that if you got tired enough, you got to the point where you had trouble getting the sleep you needed. Or maybe that was if you stayed up late enough. I really couldn't remember. It had been a long time.

As I sat there, staring at the ceiling, a single thought crossed my mind multiple times: I needed a hobby. Sure, moping around in my room all day was something, but it was boring. I was so bored all the time, but I just couldn't bring myself to actually go and _get_ something to do, so I just wallowed in my boredom. There weren't videogames here, obviously, so that was out of the question. I liked reading, but I wasn't going back to the library right now. It was safe to say that Sumia was still there, and it was too embarrassing to go back there so soon. I could try writing. I liked that, too, but I didn't have a pen. Or paper.

I let out a sigh, realizing that all of my hobbies were out of reach, either a dimension away or in the path of a Pegasus knight that I was too embarrassed to face at the moment. Except for writing. So, I dragged myself up and walked out the door, hoping to find Chrom or somebody that could give me some paper and a pen—er, quill, I supposed.

For a time, my footsteps were the only set echoing through the otherwise empty hallway. At some point, I heard other footsteps coming from ahead of me, around a corner. I didn't change my pace, but when I reached the corner, I almost ran directly into Emile, to whom I assumed the other footsteps belonged. "Oh, good evening, Zach!" the lancer said, a pep to his voice.

"Good evening," I returned, flashing him a small smile. "You seem to be in a rather good mood."

"Ah, well, yes, I just saw Vaike being chased outside the palace by an angry horse. It was quite a sight to see," he said, nodding to himself before shaking his head vehemently. "But nene—never mind that," he said. "I actually wanted to find you. Dylan, Krystal and I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh?" I asked, raising an eyebrow, tilting my head. They were looking for me, eh? That was nice to hear. Emile's hair was still in its unique style: the right half was in a side ponytail, while the other half was cut shorter, and his bangs were swept to the side. "Why is that?"

"Well, we've been… concerned at your recent reclusion, and we asked Robin about it." My face flushed at that, though as for why, I was unable to say. I was not embarrassed, so who knew? "She was really dismissississ—" he cleared his throat. "She was really dismissive about it, saying that we should ask you if we wanted to know anything."

"Yeah," I said, "I suppose I owe you guys some sort of explanation." This worked out in my favour. This way, I didn't have to go looking for them. It was nice to know that they were concerned, too. It felt good to hear that. "Where are the others?"

"They're back this way," he said, jerking his thumb back behind him. "I'll bring you to them if you would—"

Before he could finish his sentence, an explosion rocked the palace, shaking the ground with a deafening boom. "What the hell?" I blurted, holding onto the wall until the shaking subsided. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Emile said, his eyes narrowing. "But we should find out." I nodded, and we took off running toward the source of the noise. I noticed that I was a touch faster than he was, but not enough to pull far ahead. I stopped a few times at intersections, my memory failing to lead me any longer, but Emile would always catch up and say which way to go.

There were no signs of an explosion aside from the shaking for a solid minute, but after that, I smelled smoke. Shortly after that, I ran headlong into a stranger in robes, and the two of us tumbled to the ground. The stranger pushed me off with a grunt and rolled away, hopping to his feet. I sprung to mine and did the same, drawing my sword.

I was face to face with a dark mage, if the outfit was anything to go by. He had the weird, dragon-skull head piece and the whole robe deal, as well as the skin tight bodysuit that came with it. His face was contorted into a mask of rage, and he flung his outstretched hand at me, his purple-covered tome flipping open on its own, its pages fluttering. I watched as the magic circles spun around him, then dove out of the way when I saw them surround me, as well.

I heard Emile cry out, and moved into a roll when I hit the ground. Where I had been standing before was an 'X' made of purple matter, which dissipated with haste. The dark mage let out a nasty growl, priming to throw another spell my way.

I didn't give him a chance, however, and ran at him. In a panic, he blocked my quick stab with his tome, and the thick book caught the attack. He tried to use my surprise at the event as an opportunity to yank my sword away, but failed, and I pulled him toward me, delivering a harsh elbow to his jaw.

He staggered back, losing his grip on his tome. I stepped on it and pulled my sword free, then descended on him. With a stab to the gut, and a twist for good measure, he let his last breath out in the form of a gasp. I didn't bother cleaning my blade off or putting it away. He was most certainly not the only one of his kind here, and putting my sword back in its scabbard was only going to cost me time.

"It seems like the assassination attempt started," Emile said with a scowl, looking down at the bloody cloth that clung to the dead mage. "We should join up with the others." I agreed, though there was one problem with that. He didn't have his lance. He seemed to be thinking the same thing, as his scowl deepened.

"What are we going to do about you not having a weapon?" I asked, and he shrugged.

"Fight our way to the ?"

"I suppose it's our only choice, then," I said, and he nodded. "Do you know the way?" I had never dropped my sword off at the armory, so I had no idea where it was. Thankfully, he did, telling me in the form of a nod, and we were off.

I took more care to listen for approaching footprints as we ran this time, and stopped at every corner, glancing past it before just running around it and possibly into another enemy soldier. I prayed that we didn't have any lance-wielders in our path, as I was not confident in my ability to deal with them alongside and unarmed companion.

We had almost made it to the armory with ease, no foes in our way, when I heard a pair of footsteps coming our way form around a corner. I pressed myself to the wall and listened, trying better to hear how far they were. To my disdain, he popped around the corner in mere seconds, startling me and causing me to jump back. He seemed to be a cavalier, based on his armour, but there was no horse to be found. He had to have dismounted in order to have more maneuverability in these halls. To my further displeasure, I saw that he also held a lance in a firm grip, which he poised to stab at me.

I tried to block it, turning the flat of my blade to face him and bracing it with my arm. I managed to block the brunt of the attack, with the point of his lance glancing off of my sword, though I felt the force of it in my bones due to how hard he stabbed at me. I groaned, stumbling backward as he recovered from the attack.

I rolled back and sprung back up in time to see another stab coming my way. I swung my sword up in a desperate attempt to intercept the polearm, while doing my utmost to twist out of its trajectory. My savior came in the form of Emile, who ran at the dismounted cavalier and tackled him to the ground, knocking the lance out of his hand in the process. The two of them struggled with one another, and I shouted, "Move!"

Emile pushed off of the cavalier and watched as I stepped up and drove the point of my blade into the gap between his helmet and chest guard. He gurgled, grabbing futilely at my sword before his hands went limp. I yanked my blade free, sighing. I looked away when Emile groaned.

"Ugh," he muttered. "That felt like slamming into a wall."

"Well, he was wearing full armour," I said, shooting him a grin. "But hey, we did it."

"Fuck," he breathed. "At least I have a weapon, now. But if I'm going to be tackling any more fully armoured Grimleal, I'm going to need some armour of my own."

"We're close to the armory, so we can get you set up there."

"I wish I would have known tonight was going to be the night, you know?" he said, walking in the direction of the armory. "Then I would have been ready, I would have had my weapon, my armour, everything. You, on the other hand, seem quite prepared."

"I just got lucky," I admitted, keeping my voice low. "I happened to be battle-ready when shit went down."

We reached the armory without further delay, and I stood watch at the door while Emile put on one of the sets of armour that were lying in there. He emerged wearing a full set, greaves, chest plate, braces and all. "Alright, you're next." He stood watch next, and I slipped on a set of greaves and bracers. I didn't put on a chest piece, figuring it would reduce my mobility, but shin and forearm armour was appreciated.

"Let's go," I said, stepping out of the room. I desperately hoped that we weren't going to arrive too late, and the battle was already done. I hoped that we weren't going to arrive to see a dead Gaius. I wasn't sure if Chrom would kill Gaius without our interference, but I really didn't want to take that chance.

No one stopped us on the way, this time. Either I brought them to the ground with a running stab, or Emile impaled them by throwing his newfound spear. What was that? Javelins were the only lances with 1-2 range? Oh, I had to disagree, because the lancer threw his lance through almost half a dozen people on the way to the main battle.

I realized that we killed a lot of people already. Between the two of us, we had killed upward of fifteen people. I could not remember exactly how many Grimleal attack the palace in game, but it couldn't have been more than thirty. But here, I found it hard to believe that the two of us had killed at least half of an assassin group purely by happenstance. Just how many of these guys were there this time?

My thoughts were ripped away from me as I saw a whirling ball of flame covered in magic circles growing in front of me. I fought to stop myself, but my momentum carried me in to the fireball just as it exploded. I was sent flying backward, missing Emile by mere inches.

I slid along the floor, my skin burning. I changed the slide to my benefit, rolling to my feet, slowing myself. I flicked my eyes up, ignoring the pain that now afflicted me. Stepping, almost dancing around the corner with a sultry twirl, was the face that had been plaguing me for the past week, invading my dreams and converting them to nightmares, and driving my ambitions away.

I looked into multicoloured eyes and froze, stuck in a crouched position. She seemed to notice my fear, or nervousness, or whatever demon this fucking witch left in my mind, as she looked back at me and chuckled, a small, yet sadistic smile stretching across her face.

"Buona sera, signori," Dawn murmured, leaning against the wall. She looked down at me, a sparkle of joy in her eyes that was unmistakable; it was almost identical to the look she bore when she was about to stab her blade through my—no, no, stop, no thinking of that. Now was not the time, no, thinking back to that would be bad, bad, bad. No.

Emile, who had his lance pointed at her, tensed after hearing her speak, his knuckles going white from gripping his lance tighter. "Who the hell are you?" he asked, but she didn't pay him any mind. Emile risked casting a glance back at me, saying, "What are you doing, Zach? Get up!"

I couldn't bring myself to. My limbs refused to move, my eyes locked onto Dawn's. This brought a chuckle out of her. "Si chiamo Zach, eh? Interesting." She waltzed away from the wall. I watched her carefully, the entirety of my attention on her as her legs took slow, deliberate steps, her boots clacking against the marble floors, though never coming any closer. "Are you afraid, Zach?" When she did step forward, a single step, I felt myself tense, and she laughed again.

I watched her raised a hand to her mouth as she laughed, then looked down to her other hand, expecting to see her damnable glass sword drawn. Instead, I saw a red tome with a swirling silver flame emblazoned on the cover. I didn't recognize the tome, so my eyes flicked back up to her face.

I remained still, one hand on the floor, holding me up, and the other holding my iron sword, my legs bent in a crouch. Dawn's eyes seemed to search me, her smile persistent throughout.

Emile let out a growl, lashing out at her with a quick jab of his lance. The witch evaded with a fanciful twirl. She seemed to enjoy being showy, her smile widening when she faced the lancer again. "Oh, you have fire to you, hm? I like that." Her right hand being occupied with her tome, she shot her left hand down to grab her sword, drawing it in reverse grip and slashing at Emile.

The lancer took a step back, taking caution with his new opponent. I could only watch as the sadistic smile was turned on Emile, who fought it off with a glare. Dawn was fast, launching herself at the lancer, sword drawn back and poised to strike.

Emile blocked the swing with his lance, the blade digging into the shaft. He kicked at her, then wrenched his lance sideways, pulling her with it. He let loose a punch, but she hopped out of the way. Keeping a distance, Dawn held her hand out, her tome fluttering open. It had very few pages, from the looks of things, but that didn't stop her from letting loose a fireball the size of a basketball at Emile.

The lancer jumped out of the way, and the spell exploded against the wall behind him, searing the bricks. Emile went in next, leaping at her, going for a jumping stab with his lance. Again, Dawn agilely danced out of the way, before shooting another spell at him. This time, the impact was much closer, and it sent him reeling. The witch took this chance to slash at him with her sword.

The glass blade cut up the side of his torso, and he stumbled backward, clutching the new wound. Even with a weapon disadvantage, Dawn was having no trouble fighting Emile. Gods, it looked like she was toying with him. He needed help—I needed to help him! But, I still couldn't move. I wanted to—no, no I didn't. I didn't want to be here, I didn't want to be anywhere near that monster of a woman. Each time I saw her blade swing, I felt an itch at the places she'd cut me, and my pulse was racing. But I needed to. I knew it, I saw it, I fucking felt it, but I couldn't move. Emile was going to die because I was unable to help him, then she would kill me, and move on throughout the castle, probably slaughtering the rest of the Shepherds without much trouble. She was insane, in love with the rush of seeing blood spilt, and had more than enough power to spill all the blood she wanted.

With a grin of absolute delight, she slash her sword across Emile's chest, and he cried out. Gods, but my limbs were frozen! I couldn't move! I couldn't bring myself to. I watched Emile fight back, doing what he could to hold her at bay, but I also saw each strike that she left on him. I saw with how much resolve he fought, and knew that was what I should have been doing. I should have been helping him, even if it was hopeless. If all was lost, what did he have to lose? What did I have to lose that kept me from lying in wait for this reaper to come? Then, when she held her hand out, ready to end this with a single explosive spell, I knew that I couldn't.

I couldn't do nothing anymore.

Chrom

I flicked blood off of _Falchion_ as another thief dropped dead at my feet. Behind me, Robin was holding a small hallway alongside Marth, while simultaneously giving commands to Lon'qu, Sully, Kellam, and Miriel, who were defending a hallway further down. At my side was Sumia and Vaike. The two of them were teaming up to deal with dark mage and a cavalier, who were also teamed up, so it was an even fight. If things went wrong, Lissa was stationed behind them and just in front of Emmeryn's door, ready to heal them.

I took a brief break and wiped an arm across my forehead to rid it of the sweat. This battle was going well out here. Very well, actually. These assassins, whoever they were, were not the most well trained. However, that was what worried me. They had somehow managed to sneak in here, getting past our guard, and yet, they were this easy to defeat. I also could have sworn I heard a few explosions coming from within the palace, not to mention that, among other Shepherds, Zach was missing. That made me particularly worried, considering his recent emotional state.

However, I was too busy right now to go looking for him, as evidenced by the thief that charged at me. His hood was up, a long dagger held in his hand, and a patch of pink attached to his cloak. I swung at him with _Falchion_ horizontally, in an attack that should have decapitated him. This thief, however, was more competent than the others that I had killed, and he slid underneath my swing. _Falchion_ managed to clip his hood, however, tearing it off and revealing his face.

The thief recovered with a roll, and spun around to face me. I was dumbfounded at the sight. He had a head of fiery orange hair, and lodged in his mouth was the stick to a piece of candy. Across his chest, there were more pieces of candy of various colours and shapes. "Whoa, there, Blue!" the thief said, raising his hands in peace. He took the candy out of his mouth, saying, "I am not looking for any trouble!"

I gave him a strange look through narrowed eyes. "And yet you come into this palace, attempting to assassinate my sister?" I couldn't help how my voice rose, carrying my anger at this whole situation with it. The thief opened his mouth, probably ready to defend himself, or at least try to, when another voice rang out.

"WAIT!" a man said, running in, waving frantically. "Don't kill him, Chrom!" He ran closer, and I turned so both he and the thief remained in my view, without exposing my back to harm. When the man was but a yard or two away, he stopped, clasping his hands to his knees and panting.

"Who are you?" I asked. "And why shouldn't I? Here came in here planning to assassinate the exalt. That is more than enough reason to kill him here and now."

The man had short brown hair, and wore a dark red coat. He wore blue pants, black boots, and clasped to his left bicep was a white shield. At his waist was a broadsword, still in its scabbard. "I've seen him in Ylisse," he said, standing up straight. "He is just a thief, not an assassin."

"He ain't lying," the thief said, hands still up. "All I came here for was some quick money. In and out. I wasn't planning on killing anybody, I promise. The exalt's a nice lady, and I don't have any issue with her."

"And how do I know I can trust you?" I asked. I've been trusting in the past, perhaps too trusting on some occasions. I liked to believe in the best in people. But this… he broke into the palace with a band of assassins. That reeked of suspicion, too much for me to ignore. "You've given me no proof that—" I swept my hand at him for emphasis, and hit a bag that Lissa had given me, which had been tied to my belt, knocking it loose. It fell to the floor, spilling a few pieces of colourful candy out.

I heard the thief gasp. "Is that candy?" he breathed, eyes fixated on the sweets.

"Uh, yes?" I answered, confused. "But that's not the point, here."

Before I could say anything else, the thief thrust his free hand forward. I almost cut him down right then, but I could myself, realizing that it wasn't an attack, but an offer for a handshake. I shot him a look, and he looked right back into my eyes. "I'm yours, Blue."

"What?"

"I'm yours," he repeated. "I'll work for you and yours. I'm a thief, through and through. I can get into places, do recon for ya, or just sneak around and gather information. Anything, as long as you keep me supplied with _those_ babies."

I was shocked. Surely he was joking. But the look in his eye was dead serious. He looked as if he would kill for these candies, and offered his services for them? Well, we did need someone of his type, and he didn't even want money, so… it would be foolish to turn down, right? "Deal," I said, shaking his hand. His eyes lit up, and he ducked down to snag the bag of sweets.

"Awesome," he grinned. "Name's Gaius." He popped the candy from before back in his mouth and tightened his headband. "I am at your service, Blue."

I heard a sigh to my right, and remembered the other man that had come running in here. "You still haven't answered my question," I said, turning to face him. "Who are you?"

A startled look flashed across his face. "O-oh, uh, I'm, uh, I'm Robert," he said, forcing a smile and sticking his hand out. I arced an eyebrow at his gesture, not giving him the handshake he sought. "I'm a mercenary, of sorts."

"Go on."

"Ah, well," he rubbed the back of his head, looking to the side briefly. "I'm kind of new to the job, but I'm cheap, and more than willing to serve, so if you're willing to have me, I'll do my best." He spoke with a confidence that I could respect, despite being a self-proclaimed amateur. Even if he was new to combat, he couldn't possibly be more green than Donnel if he was a mercenary, so he had to have some degree of skill.

"I'll give you a chance," I said, shaking his hand as well.

"Oh, good," he let out another sigh. "So, um, how does this whole thing work? I've never exactly been hired before, so…"

I couldn't help but laugh. Maybe I was wrong. It was possible to be more green than Donnel.

Zach

I launched myself toward her, my legs propelling me like springs, and drove my blade at Dawn. She saw me coming last second, and for the briefest moment, as if the gods were offering a handhold for me to grab onto, I saw fear flash across her face instead. She twisted her body to avoid a stab that would have pierce through her stomach, and it cut a gash along her side instead, but it was enough to put her aim off. Her arm moved when she spun, and ended up firing her spell into the ceiling.

"Merda," Dawn hissed, grimacing. The pained expression was present for only a moment, then she donned her usual smile. "I admit, I was not expecting that. You caught me off-guard, but do not think it will happen again."

I did not feel ready to fight her. Gods, if Emile couldn't land a hit on her, what chance did I have? But I still had to try. I either made it through this, and there would be time for self-doubt later, or I died, and it wouldn't matter either way. I needed to do this, to fight and try.

So I got into my Ko Gasumi stance, and glared at the witch in front of me. "I don't think it will," I muttered, voice low. "I know that it will." With that, I sped at her again, pirouetting past the stab that she aimed at me and following through with a diagonal slash. It only nicked her arm, but it got my point through.

I followed that attack up with another spinning slash. This time, she swung her blade again and caught my side, leaving a deep gash, but my slash hit her completely as well. I slashed across her gut, then hopped out of the way, clutching my new wound.

Her smile was gone, now, replaced with a savage snarl. She pointed her sword at me, and I saw the pages of her tome flutter open again. In return for how I rescued him, however, Emile dashed forward and stabbed her through the gut.

Dawn cried out, and I would be lying if I said I didn't gleam any joy or satisfaction from hearing it. Any suffering this bitch went through was music to my motherfucking ears. Emile yanked his lance free, and she turned her spell toward him. Panic flicked through me. Just before she shot it, however, she aimed right between us, and the explosion rocketed us in opposite directions. I hit the wall, thankfully spinning so my back made the impact, because I definitely felt something break.

I gasped in pain, but caught myself before I hit the ground. She was hunched over, too, her breathing labored, but her gaze furious. I looked to my side to see Emile holding himself up with his lance. Seeing his state of weakness, Dawn charged at him.

I knew Emile wasn't going to be able to get out of the way, and it didn't look like he was going to be able to block it, so I did the only thing I could, and ran to intercept her attack. The witch raised her sword, and just as she was about to bring it down, I swung mine upward with both hands, as hard as I could, meeting it mid-swing.

The glass sword shattered, sending shards flying every which way. A few flew past me, cutting my face, but I didn't care. What remained of the sword was flung from her hand, and her hand rebounded from the clash of the blades.

This gave Emile the time he needed to level his spear and, for a second time, stab it through the gods-damned witch. I prayed, in that split-second. I prayed to all of the gods from all of the religions I knew from back home, that this vile woman was dead, her plague of an existence gone from the face of the Earth. I didn't get the answer that I was looking for, nor was it the preferred answer, but at the moment, it was more than enough.

Dawn staggered backward, the spear sticking through her. Emile leaned on me for support, and I wrapped an arm around him. I still kept my sword ready, just in case. It wasn't needed, however, as she dropped her tome to the ground and stared at the weapon sticking out of her for a moment, her lip quivering, before her shaking hand snagged something from her belt. With a final look at Emile and I, she threw an object at the ground. A flash of light filled the hall, and when it cleared, all that remained of Dawn was a quickly fading magic circle.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding, and slumped against Emile. "We fucking did it," I cried, literally. Tears were welling in my eyes as the stress of the events that had transpired flooded my mind at full force. "We fuckin' did it," I said again, and the lancer nodded.

"We fucking did it," he agreed.

 **AN: I feel like this is a good place to end this chapter. We will pick up from here next chapter, and then we'll go from there.**

 **Anyway, sorry for the long break and all that, but here's an extra large chapter to make up for that.**

 **But yeah, read, review, tell me what you think. I appreciate every review, and they each warm my heart a little more than the last.**

 **All of the Oats have left the building.**


	13. Chapter 12: Incursion

**Alright, well for some reason, my POV shift symbols don't show up on here, so I'll probably just stick to using like, "Zach's POV:" from now on. Timeshift will still be the little omega, so yeah.**

 **Skibbop, don't own anything.**

"Are you alright?" I asked, holding Emile. I was practically holding him up, his arm around me. I didn't realize how much blood had sprayed about the hall during our battle with Dawn. There were splatters of red and scorch marks all over the place, not to mention the small pieces of debris created from her explosions. I noticed the lancer slipping from my grip and jostled him. "Hey, come on, stay with me."

He nodded lazily, and I grimaced. He was in terrible condition. There were more cuts and slashes on his body than I was willing to count, to the point where the majority of the blood covering the floor was dripping from his wounds, smeared from our footsteps. I knew that I wasn't in the best condition, either. At least one of my ribs was broken, and the gash along my side was bleeding heavily. Despite that, an energy filled my veins. I had to push on.

Finding a good grip on Emile was difficult with the blood making everything slick, but I managed, holding him up as I took the first step of many toward a healer. His breathing was slow, ragged and inconsistent, hard at times and soft at others. I was nearly carrying him, as his feet dragged when he tried to walk, smearing a trail of blood that dripped from him.

I didn't bother taking as much caution when walking through the halls. There wasn't time to be cautious, to worry if there was any enemy coming around the corner. Emile's approaching demise was a much more prevalent foe to fight off than any soldier that may find his way in our path.

I could hear the sounds of battle, offset by the quiet that surrounded us. I was hesitant, but decided that heading toward the sound of clashing blades and battles cries offered a better chance of finding a healer than wandering aimlessly through the halls.

Occasionally, Emile began to slip, and I had to hoist him back up. The further we went, the more frequently it happened, and the more I had to jostle him awake. I had heard to not let someone sleep when they were in this state, and I worried that if I failed to keep him from this slumber, he would never leave it, so I kept a watchful eye on him. His head would bob, and I would shake him.

The din of combat grew louder, and my fears lessened. They still burned with ferocity, glaring and fearsome, but dimmer than before. Soon enough, I saw the darkness outside, and the starless night sky. "Just a bit farther, Emile," I told the lancer, and he nodded with great effort. Just a bit farther, assuming we weren't attacked and killed on the way, but wishful thinking egged me on. "Come on, bud."

He was unresponsive. His eyes weren't closed, I noticed, glancing at his face. They were struggling to stay open. I felt his arm slip from around me and he began to fall, his legs giving out. I was unable to catch him, and he collapsed to the ground. Panic seized me, scaring me into thinking he died. "No, no, no, no, come on, Emile," I muttered, kneeling down and shaking him. His eyes were closed now. "Come _on_ ," I repeated. No response. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." I stepped back and walked a tight circle before kneeling back down next to him. "Okay, alright, I'm going to pick you up, alright?" No response.

I grabbed him under his armpits and pulled him into a sitting position. "Alright, fuck." I slipped my sword into its sheathe and rubbed my hands together. I pulled him up into a faux standing position, leaning him up against my back. I crouched down and, putting my hands behind his thighs, near his knees, I muttered to myself, "Okay, one, two, three—"

On three, I lifted him by his thighs onto my back, his arms thrown over my shoulders. I had to jostle him, shifting him up farther so I could get a better grip, and managed to get him up into a piggyback. My ribs were starting to ache, but I powered through it as best I could. Gods, I should have just thought of this earlier.

I hustled out into the open, no caution whatsoever. I got lucky, and no one saw me as I dashed to available cover. There was a tall marble wall that I hid behind, then glanced around. The combat still seemed to be further ahead, to the right of where we entered the clearing. Taking a deep breath—and a moment to make sure I had a solid grip on Emile, I ran from my cover, toward the fight.

I was defenseless. I was holding a man up on my back, and had no way to draw my sword without dropping him. If I dropped him, he would probably die, and I likely wouldn't have enough time to draw my sword before whatever enemy was upon me. So I moved quickly and as quietly as I could, what with the man on my back.

I rounded a corner to see a thief get impaled by a fiery haired woman on a horse, who I recognized as Sully. With her was Lon'qu, Kellam, and Miriel. They were holding down an entrance back into the building. The myrmidon was clashing blades with another thief, and Miriel was trading spells with a dark mage. Both of them managed to dispatch their targets with a bit of assistance: Sully stabbed the thief from behind, and Kellam threw a javelin straight threw the darm mage. I ran closer, and froze as I saw Kellam turn at me, preparing to throw another javelin.

"WAIT!" I cried, stopping in my tracks. Kellam hesitated, as well, then leaned closer, as if trying to get a better look at me before lowering his weapon.

My yell caught the attention of the other three Shepherds present, and Sully looked at me, a genuine smile growing on her face. "Zach," she called, rearing her horse back to look at me without craning her neck. She had a smile on her face, apparently glad to see me, until I ran closer and she saw Emile lying limp over me. "Holy shit," she muttered, smile dropping from her face, mouth open in shock.

"Take him," I ordered, and she pulled Emile onto her horse. With him in tow, she rode back into the building they were defending and out of sight. I followed at a slower pace, but not by choice. My energy was quickly fading now that we'd made it to relative safety. I made my way to Kellam and Lon'qu, the latter of whom offered the same stability to me that I'd given Emile on the way here, holding me up as my legs turned to jelly.

"What happened to you?" the myrmidon asked, taking me further into the building, behind cover and the wall that was Kellam.

"Ambush," I groaned, and he lay me down against a wall, my back straight up against it. "We were attacked by this mage bitch. She had a sword, too, as you can see." I made a half-hearted attempt to gesture at my cut, which had gotten blood all over Lon'qu's fur coat. "We killed her, I think, but got fucked up in the process." I jerked my chin to where Sully had taken Emile, saying, "He got it worse than me, though."

Lon'qu gave me a quick once-over with his sharp eyes, then Kellam called him to the door. Apparently more enemies were approaching, and the knight needed help. He drew his killing edge and ran back to assist, leaving me to watch.

Or at least, I was going to watch until a voice called my name, and I turned to see Sully riding back. "Lissa said to take you to her," the cavalier said, hopping down and helping me to my feet. She pushed me up onto her horse, then we rode back down the hall. We passed Robin and 'Marth' on the way. Robin paused when she saw my red-painted form struggling to hang on to Sully, then regained her composure to blast a knight with a thunder spell.

 **Robert POV:**

It was remarkably easy getting my first kill. The fighter had run at me, and I simply sidestepped his first clumsy swing. Without hesitating, I ran my blade through his chest. Blood sprayed out, but I was unbothered. It wasn't the first time I'd seen blood, and it wouldn't be the last, so I ignored it as anything other than an inconvenience.

My next kill was a dark mage, who was too busy focusing on Chrom to notice me running up behind him and damn near cleaving him in half. That one was a bit unnerving, because I saw a sliver of his spine when I pulled my sword free. Even so, it was easier than I'd thought it would be.

After killing my second dark mage with a blade through the stomach, I took a step away from the action to take a breather. That was when Sully had come careening into the room on her horse, dropping off what looked to be a blood covered corpse. I was scared for a second that it was the body of a Shepherd, but with closer inspection, I saw that I didn't recognize him.

Lissa seemed to, however, crying, "Emile?". She almost dropped her staff in shock, then looked to Sully with a look asking, "Is he dead?"

"I think he's still alive," the fire-headed cavalier said, her face an unreadable mask. "Zach's back there, and he's in pretty rough shape, too." Zach? Emile? Who were these guys? They certainly weren't any Shepherds I recognized. This was strange.

"Go get him," Lissa said, readying her staff to heal this 'Emile'. Sully sped down the hall she came from, and I watched as Lissa's staff began to glow a pale green. She let out a tense sigh when the light appeared, then focusses on healing this guy, who was lying on the floor, covered from head to toe in blood. His seemingly pale blonde hair was matted with the stuff, and his armour was stained with it. I wondered how much of it was his own before having to avert my eyes. The process of watching the skin on his wounds knit itself together so quickly was more unnerving than driving my blade through a man's heart, honestly.

I turned back when the green light had subsided, and ran over to help Lissa prop him up against the wall. She jumped when I appeared next to her, afraid of me. I thought it strange until I realized that she didn't know who I was. "Robert," I said, offering a smile. "I'm a mercenary that Chrom just hired. I'm here to help."

She didn't look like she trusted me, but that made sense. It would change with time, anyway. I propped this Emile guy up against the wall and got a closer look at his face in the process. Yeah, I most certainly did not recognize him, what with his strange haircut.

I whirled around when I heard a galloping coming back down the hall. Riding on Sully's horse was another man I didn't recognize, this one with curly black hair and also covered in blood. This guy seemed to be in better condition than Emile, hanging on to Sully. At least, that was until he went limp and slumped off of the horse, dropping to the ground, causing the cavalier and Lissa to gasp out what I assumed to be his name, the former trying—and failing—to catch him. "Zach!"

I rushed to pick him up. He was still breathing, and still conscious, but he was straddling the edge, and seemed to be leaning more toward passing out. I dragged him over to Lissa, and she readied her staff to start healing him. As I knelt by her side, I observed the man she was healing.

If the sword strapped to his waist was any implication, he was either a mercenary like me, or a myrmidon. Or maybe a trainee class? Were those a thing now? I was transported here from Earth, for some reason, so it wasn't out of the question. Maybe it wasn't too out of the question to assume that these two guys were from Earth, too. Nothing was too farfetched.

This guy was still on the edge of consciousness, but he looked at Lissa when she said, "Gods, Zach, what happened to you two?" The light from her staff never faded for the duration of the time she healed him, until his wound was fixed. He only had one major wound that I could see: a long gash going from his hip up to his pecs at an angle.

"We were attacked," he said after she'd finished.

"I can see that," Lissa scowled, glaring at him. He flashed her a small, weak smile, tiling his head against the wall and closing his eyes. "How many were there?"

"One," he said, smile disappearing. "We got her, though." I stood up when I heard footsteps coming from where Sully had, tightening my grip on my sword, the handle creaking. Was it an enemy?

"Gods," the healer murmured, then jerked her head up when she heard the footsteps, too. Sully looked, a steely look in her eyes as soon as she saw who it was. Seeing the calmed look on her face, I lowered my sword and relaxed. Around the corner came a distraught woman wearing a black cloak with silver hair tied up in twin tails. Ah, so we were working with a female Robin? Cool.

"Lissa," she said, her face brow furrowed in a face knit with concern. "Where is…?" I couldn't tell whether the emotion that appeared on her face when she saw this guy was shock or relief that he was still alive. Maybe both. "Zach!" Zach opened his eyes and tiled his head to see her, while she took the time to kneel down next to him. "What the hell happened?"

It was the same question that Lissa asked. Well, almost. I noticed that Robin didn't include the 'you two' part. That and there was a tenderness to her voice. I didn't think the others picked up on it; hell, Zach didn't even seem to. It was faint, negligibly so, but I heard it. It made me wonder if they were a couple. That would mean that he was with the Shepherds, though, which I could have gleamed from how all three of the Shepherds here knew him, but this would cement it. But that would mean... Nothing. That didn't mean anything special. I was grasping for straws. Regardless, his answer to her question confirmed his closeness with Robin, and all he said was one word. A name, rather.

"Dawn." Robin's mouth dropped open slightly. She couldn't seem to find the words she wanted. She looked him over once more, then looked up and saw Emile lying unconscious a few feet away. Robin glanced back to Zach, mouth open again, looking like she knew what she wanted to say, but he cut her off. "We took care of her, though, so you don't need to worry." He gave her an empty smile. Each of his breaths was fast and shallow.

Robin was still ready to say something back—I could practically see the words on the tip of her tongue—but Chrom's voice caught all of our attention. "What's going on?" he asked, and I realized that the four—er, FIVE of us sitting here made out for a suspicious sight. I stepped out of the way to give him a clear sight—it was a wonder he hadn't seen Sully racing in here with either Emile or Zach. When he saw the two of them lying on the ground, he put speed in his step and came over, sheathing _Falchion_. "Gods, what happened?"

"Dawn," Robin said, beating Zach to it. Just as it had been with Robin, that name was enough of an explanation. I didn't know who this Dawn was, or why she was such a big deal, and neither did Sully or Lissa, apparently. The cavalier and healer exchanged a confused look, putting it together that this was something they weren't a part of.

Chrom was in deep thought for a time, hand on his chin, then he asked, "We'll talk more on this later, but right now," he waved a finger, "we need to make sure that the rest of these assassins are dealt with."

"I think they are all dead now," Robin said, standing up and brushing her cloak off. "There weren't any down our hallway, and it didn't look like any were coming, so I left. Marth is still there, just in case, but it seems like the battle is done."

"There may be more inside the palace, still," Chrom said, "so we should head back in and clear it out, just to be safe." We all nodded, and prepared to head back inside. Sully rode back down the hall, saying she was going to inform the others. Meanwhile, Chrom opens the door that had been behind Lissa, the heavy door grinding over the stone floor. Inside, Emmeryn was waiting, sitting at a fancy desk in an otherwise undecorated room. Her brow was furrowed in deep concentration, so much so that she didn't notice Chrom until he walked up and touched her on the shoulder. At his touch, she jumped, startled, but smiled afterward. "Sister, we're heading back inside the castle now."

I missed the rest of their conversation, as Robin grabbed my attention. "And who are you?" she asked, crossing her arms. I could see Zach looking at me out of the corner of his eye, his head tilted back to lean against the wall once more.

"I'm a mercenary," I said simply, flashing her a grin and a thumbs up. "Chrom hired me earlier."

She gave me a strange look, but her eyes didn't linger, instead looking past me. "What about you?" she asked, and I was confused as to who she was talking to, but I turned around to see Gaius crouched there, sucking on a piece of candy while he picked through the bag that Chrom had given him. I had honestly forgotten he was here, what with how quiet he'd been. "Who are you?"

"Just a thief," he supplied, spying into the bag with one eye closed. "Blue hired me, too." The thief didn't bother looking up at Robin when he spoke, but when he finished inspecting his loot, he stood up and peered over at us. "Name's Gaius."

"Robin," the tactician said, still perplexed at the situation and likely with the prince who hired us. She turned to me, next. "Your name?"

"Robert," I said, nodding. "Or Rob, if you prefer."

"We'll have time for more in-depth introductions later," Chrom said, stepping out of the room, Emmeryn a step behind him. "We have to sweep through the palace, find the other Shepherds and clear out any assassins that are still lurking within."

"What about these two?" Lissa asked, gesturing to Emile and Zach, the latter having falling unconscious like the former. "They can't exactly fight like this."

"You can keep them with me," Emmeryn suggested, her voice heavenly smooth and easy on the ears. "I will stay in my room while you all check the rest of the palace."

"Sister," Chrom said, gaze softening, "I don't feel comfortable leaving you unprotected." Just then, Sully came riding back, Lon'qu, Kellam, and Miriel close behind.

"One of them can stand guard," the Exalt said, a small smile on her face at her brother's frustration. The look on his face said that she missed his point, but he was unable to argue, as she was right. "Which of you would like to stand guard for me while the rest of them clean out the stragglers?"

"I'll do it," Kellam said, raising his hand.

"Alright," Chrom said, still unsure. "We can get going, then." I watched as every single one of the Shepherds filed in through the hallway that I had come running in through. Speaking of which, it was really easy to get into the castle. It was probably just because they were under attack, though, and had their guard elsewhere. I had also climbed in through an open window. Chrom and Emmeryn stood to the side, watching the other Shepherds. When the only ones remaining outside were them, Robin, and myself, they heading in.

Robin and I began to follow when a new, deep and smooth voice said, "When you want something done right…"

We and Chrom turned to see the voice's owner, only to see a ball of sparking purple magic come flying over our heads and slam into the ceiling where Chrom and Emmeryn were standing. Quick on his feet, the prince tackled Emmeryn to safety as a portion of the ceiling came crashing down, blocking the entrance.

Robin and I, looked back again. My eyes followed a stream of purple mist that outlined the path of the magic to its source. Stood there was a tall man with dark skin, tall pitch black hair and dark purple robes. I recognized him as Validar, Robin's father and Papa Grimleal himself. And based on the look he wore on his face, he was _pissed_. His red eyes were narrowed, his mouth formed in a deep frown. Robin must have gotten all of her looks from her mother, because she and Validar shared no resemblance.

He walked closer, his long robes dragging on the ground. When he saw Robin, however, he stopped in his tracks, his expression changing from livid to surprised. "Well, well..." he chuckled, much to the surprise of Robin and I. "Oh, I know you…" his eyes levelled with Robin's, his frown transforming into a grin. "If you submit to me, I may just honour you with the truth!"

Robin and I shared a look, and I said, "Yeah right, asshole. Let's get this over with." Robin's eyes held a conflict in them. Whatever it was disappeared within a second, and she pulled out a yellow tome, glaring at Vaildar.

The man frowned again, displeased by this outcome. "So be it," he said, his own purple-covered tome fluttering open. "If your wish is to die, instead, then I can grant it."

He swung his arm at me, and a purple fireball with blue sparks dancing over its surface flew from his hand at me. I dodge out of the way, but it exploded on impact, tossing me to the side. Robin shot a bolt of thunder at him. It hit him, but sparked harmlessly against his chest, and he chuckled. "Is that all you've got?" he taunted. "I expected more from you."

I got up off the ground, rolling my sword in my hand, then charging Validar. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye, my existence clearly bringing him the greatest displeasure imaginable. He didn't bother to face me when he shot another fireball at me, missing me by mere inches, while the explosion was once more enough to send me to the ground. I pushed myself back up again, to find that he was once more looking at Robin.

The tactician was firing bolt after bolt of thunder at Validar, but they weren't bothering him in the slightest. He disregarded each one, then sent a fireball her way. It collided with one of her lightning bolts, exploding midair. The impact sent out a wind that billowed his cloak. He cast the spell again, mere seconds after, and this one exploded at Robin's feet, knocking her back several yards. "Come on, girl!" the hierophant bellowed as Robin pushed herself to her feet, holding his arms out to his sides. "This can't really be your full potential. If this is all you've got, I'm better of killing you now."

Robin glowered at him, and I decided that this would be a good chance to attack, while Validar was distracted. I charged at him, raising my sword preemptively. When I was within a yard of him, he flicked a hand my way, and a smaller version of the purple fireball blew me back.

"Gods," I growled, hopping back to my feet. How had he even seen me? Did he hear my footsteps? That had to have been it. Next time, I had to be quieter, slower. I had to sneak up on him. Get him while he had 100% focus on Robin.

"Are you that eager to die?" he asked, turning to me, head cocked to the left. "I gave you a chance to flee, but you didn't take it. What a fool you are."

"Like I would leave her here with you," I said, grabbing my sword with both hands and charging him again. I cast a quick glance at Robin to see her holding her hands out toward Validar, eyes closed, pages in her book flipping like mad. I returned my eyes to the dark mage ahead of me to see a fireball coming at my face. I didn't have enough time to dodge, so I did my best to block the spell, crossing my arms in front of me.

I hadn't expected it to be actual fire. I thought it was going to feel like… well, I didn't know what I thought it was going to feel like, but when that dark magic hit me, it singed my arms and burned off the sleeves to my coat, as well as flinging me back, sliding along the floor on my back. I stopped myself from sliding too far, and flipped back to my feet, desperately trying to pat out the flames that lingered, muttering a string of curses. As soon as I did, I heard Robin cast her spell, yelling out, "Thunder!" A massive bolt of lightning shot from her hands, faster than any of the previous spells, crashing into Validar.

This one had the desired effect, shocking the hierophant and bringing him to his knees. He clutched a hand to his chest, coughing. I felt a glimmer of hope, like we had a chance. That all died when he rose to his feet, however, and he bore a smile more brilliant than before. "That was better," he said, nodding. "But still not good enough. Come on, girl, you can do better than that. How can you expect to protect the prince, or that… one boy? The injured one. How can you expect to protect him if this is the best you can do? You won't ever be able to—"

He was cut off by the _woof_ of flames, and I saw surprise knock the smugness from his face, a purple glow lighting up the darkness to my side. I turned, and saw Robin alight with purple flames, her eyes narrowed, teeth bared in a fearsome snarl. Lightning danced across her fingertips, and I thought I saw regret in Validar's eyes when I turned back. Robin drew her arm back, and I saw an opportunity. I drew back, then threw my sword like a spear at Validar, praying and hoping that it landed. He didn't see it coming; it lodged itself in his gut, and the dark mage staggered back, gasping. Then Robin let loose the largest lightning bolt yet, muttering, "Checkmate."

The lightning arced directly into where my sword was stuck in Validar, the iron blade conducting the electric magic straight into him. The dark mage began convulsing, screaming out in pain. He reached up and clutched his head, screaming louder and louder, the lightning dancing from within him and all over his body, until he dropped to the ground, and his screams cut out altogether. When his body hit the ground, the only part that made a sound was my sword. He slumped soundlessly and lifelessly to the floor, then the same purple flames that were now dying out on Robin began to appear on Validar, consuming him from where my sword was still lodged in his body.

I stared, jaw hanging open as he disappeared bit by bit, the flame spreading until it reduced the dark mage to a pile of… cherry blossoms? I looked back to Robin; her arms were slumped at her sides, and she dropped to her knees. "Robin!" I called, running over to her and holding her up. Her eyes were fluttery, her lips slightly parted. "Robin, come on, stay with me." I tapped her on the cheek twice, and she blinked, apparently coming to her senses. "Are you okay?"

"I… I think so," she said, touching a hand to her head. "What… what just happened?" She looked past me to where my sword rested in a pile of cherry blossoms. It was strangely serene now that Validar was dead. "Where did that dark mage go?"

"What?" I asked, arcing an eyebrow. Was she serious? "What do you mean? He's right there." I pointed to the cherry blossoms, and she only looked more confused.

"I don't understand."

"Those petals," I said. "That's him."

It was almost childlike, the expression she wore as I pieced her through it. She had a bright look in her eyes, a stark contrast to the darkness that shrouded them when she incinerated Validar. "He turned into flower petals?" She cocked her head to the side.

"Yes. You turned him into flower petals." I paused, about to let her speak, then decided to just tell her straight away instead of letting her guess the rest of what happened. We had yet to find a way back to Chrom and the others, of course. "You used these purple flames, and they burned him up. For some reason, he turned into flower petals after that."

"Purple flames." It wasn't a question. More of a statement of facts, to help get it through Robin's mind. She brought a hand up to her mouth, nibbling on the first joint of her index finger. "Strange." Her brown eyes stared straight through me. They looked different than before, another aspect to them, the closest of which I could relate it to being the conflict I'd seen in them earlier. Suddenly, they snapped into focus, looking into mine. "My apologies," she said, standing up. "We should get moving and try to find a way inside."

 **Zach POV Ω:**

I woke up in a bed. A very familiar bed. I sat up, then winced as a sudden pain lanced through my side, sending me prone. "Agh," I breathed, then eased myself into a sitting position. With a brief look around, I learned that I was in my room. It was remarkably untouched from the assassination attempt, which was nice. I was also shirtless, with bandages wrapped around my lower torso. Sitting by the side of my bed was my sword; my shirt was nowhere in sight, which was unfortunate, considering it was really my only one.

I pushed the blanket off and swung my legs over the edge of the bed. Wiping a hand over my face and standing up, I tried to recall how I had ended up here while snagging my sword and fastening it to my belt. All I could remember was Robin kneeling next to me, Lissa at my side, some guy in a red coat, and Chrom walking toward me. I was on the ground, and my wound had been… healed?

I looked at my side, where the gash had been, and found nothing hinting that a cut had been there. Other than, of course, the blood that had dried over my skin. Blood was matted all over me, not just there. It coated my hair, and twisting to look over my shoulder, I saw that my back was covered, as well. My bed was covered in flakes of dried blood, but not stained.

I twisted the doorknob and walked out into the bright hallway. It was empty. Literally. Aside from me, it was devoid of any staff, soldiers, Shepherds or diplomats. I was the only one, and took my first steps slowly, listening to them echo throughout the silent halls.

At every turn, I continued straight, making my way to where I knew Robin stayed, but I would look down the path I didn't take until it was out of sight. There was never anybody down them, but I kept an eye out, just in case. This silence sent a chill down my spine. This type of quiet was always unsettling; it didn't feel right, especially in the palace.

I didn't see a single person on the way to Robin's room. Well, not a living one. There were plenty of corpses strewn about. They were always next to streaks or puddles of blood, and in full armour, unless they were a mage or something. The blood made everything smell like iron. The metallic scent made my nose crinkle up. I was reminded of Emile, and I hoped he survived. If he died because of my helplessness…

I knocked on Robin's door when I arrived and waited for her to answer. When she said nothing, however, I knocked again, this time harder. Again, there was no response, and I began to worry. This was all very strange. If Robin wasn't in her room, I had no idea where she would be. Maybe Chrom knew. Chrom was a good option to find, as well. If I found him, well, maybe he'd know what was going on.

I tried my hardest to ignore the bodies that were scattered around, slumped against the walls or lying on the floor. I failed. Some of them wore the armour of Yllisean guards, while others were very clearly Plegian. Their blue and red uniforms respectively made the distinction rather easy. One pair consisted of a Plegian and an Yllisean, propped up against one another while both were on their kness, respective blades buried in the others gut. This had been the grave of so many, cemented even further by the chilling silence. It was sickening, but I was at least thankful that the blood was mostly dried. The floor would have been quite slick had the opposite been true.

The eerie silence was cut off as I heard footsteps heading my way. I looked up, having been staring straight down at my feet, to see a boy in robes and a pointy wizard hat running toward me. I stop walking and waited for him to get closer, eyebrow raised. "Are you Zach?" he asked, out of breath.

"Yes," I said, holding my hands on my hips. "Who are you?" He looked a little different, but I was almost certain that I knew his name already. A bit older than I had thought he was, but his hair was the same reddish colour that I remembered.

"I'm Ricken," he said. I noticed the green tome he clutched in his left hand. "Chrom told me to find you. I'll show you the way, but we'll have to hurry: he said we are heading out soon."

"What?" I asked. _We're leaving?_ "Where are we going?"

"Um." He blushed sheepishly. "I forgot, actually. You'll just have to ask Chrom when we find him." He turned away and started to walk back. I followed close. He looked a year or so older than he had in game, and his voice was a tad deeper, but he wasn't any taller. He stood to perhaps my shoulders without his mage hat. He was probably fifteen here. So young, but then we all were. I didn't think any of us were yet twenty, except for Emm, but she wasn't one of the Shepherds.

The majority of the Shepherds were gathered in the throne room. I picked Krystal, Dylan, Chrom, and Robin out of the group, the latter talking with Emmeryn and Phila about something while an old man in robes the same shade of green as Emm's stood close by. Everybody was in full armour, weapons sheathed but donned, a somber mood filling the room. I looked out of place, I realized, as I was still not wearing my shirt. "Captain Chrom," Ricken called, waving to get the prince's attention when we walked into the room.

He, Robin, Emm, Phila, and the old dude turned to face us, none of the others seeming to notice the mage. Chrom gave me a strange look, and I returned it, though for a different reason. "Where is your shirt?" he asked when Ricken and I walked up.

"I don't know," I admitted. "It was gone when I woke up." He and Robin shared a look, and the tactician shrugged. "What's going on?" I asked, getting straight to the point. "Ricken said something about us leaving? Where are we going?"

"We're going to be escorting Emmeryn to a second palace out east of here," Chrom said. "It's on short notice, I know, but we need to make sure she is kept safe, especially after this attempt on her life earlier tonight."

"Alright. How long will we be staying there?"

"That's what we're discussing right now," Robin said. She was hugging her arms to herself, her brow furrowed. "We're not sure if it would be better to remain with the Exalt, or take the fight straight to Plegia."

"Perhaps this is a conversation best saved for the road," Phila said. "We should be on our way soon, after all."

"You are right, Phila," Chrom said, sighing. "The sooner we leave the better." He cleared his throat, then to the entire group of Shepherds, shouted, "We're moving out." He took the lead, Robin, Frederick, Phila, and I following close behind. Behind us, Emmeryn and the old hierarch followed, kept in the center of the column, guarded on all sides by the remainder of the Shepherds.

We marched through the night. There was no event with note that occurred. Everyone aside from me, having passed out and gleamed a few hours of sleep, and Emile, who was still unconscious, was exhausted. They had only gotten a few minutes worth of rest before we all went on the road again, and I felt at fault, which was strange, because there wasn't anything I could have done, was there? No, this was scripted. There wasn't any avoiding this.

I noticed that Robin was quiet, which while not unusual, her silence was generally the result of her burying her nose in a book. This time, she had no book open. In fact, the only book she had with her was her thunder tome. She looked pensive, like something was on her mind, nibbling on the first joint of her index finger, her eyes dark.

"What's wrong?" I decided to ask her. I pulled her from some rather deep thoughts, her eyes blinking a few times before taking on a new light as she turned to face me. "You seem troubled."

"Oh, no," she brushed it off, shaking her head. "Just something on my mind." She gave me a small smile, and I noticed that one corner of her mouth was raised a little higher. I wondered if it been like that before. I had never paid too much attention to detail, so it was very likely that I just hadn't noticed.

"Are you sure?" I pressed, almost hooking my thumbs on my waistband, but stopping myself when I accidentally tugged on my bandages, reminding me that I was still, in fact, shirtless.

"Yes," she assured me, her smile persistent. "I'm just thinking through some things, I promise." Her eyes lingered on me for a moment, then her smile turned into a silly grin as he brow furrowed. "Are you cold without a shirt on?"

"Um, a little," I admit. The night air was chilly against my skin. Not even to make me shiver, or make me genuinely cold, but it was mildly unpleasant. "It isn't too bad, though, why?"

"If you want, you can borrow my coat."

"No, I'm fine without," I declined. "It really isn't that bad."

"Are you sure?" she asked, slipping one of her arms out of its sleeve. "I have a shirt underneath, so I don't need to wear it."

"Wow, you're wearing a shirt underneath?" I ask sarcastically, holding my hands to my face in mock surprise. "I never would have guessed. I thought you were offering to take my place as the shirtless member of our party. Here I was, protecting your modesty in vain."

"Shut up," the tactician said, grinning. "Don't take the coat, then." She put her coat back on all the way. "I was just trying to be nice, but fine." She said it with a false offense to her voice, one that contrasted her grin.

I shook my head, her grin infecting me. We walked in silence for a time, both of us smiling. In light of everything, I was glad that we could keep a sense of humor and cheer. I wondered how long that would last.

"So when you said you took care of Dawn," Robin asked suddenly, "what did you mean?"

"What?"

"Earlier tonight, before you passed out," the tactician explained. "You said that Dawn was the one who attacked you. You also said that you 'took care of her.'"

"Oh," I said, having forgotten even saying that. "I meant that we…" I was going to say that we killed her, but was that right? She left no body. She left nothing, actually, not even the lance that was sticking out of her. "Well, I don't know if we killed her." The look that Robin gave me begged that I explain. "When Emile stabbed her the last time, she stepped away and threw something on the floor. There was a bright flash, and she was gone when it went away. There was a magic circle on the floor, like the ones when you cast a spell, but that was it. Emile's lance was still sticking out of her chest, and she took that with her, too."

"And you're doing alright?" Robin asked.

"I mean, I'm still injured," I said, "but it doesn't hurt too bad."

"That isn't what I mean," the tactician said, looking into my eyes. "I mean emotionally. That couldn't have been easy for you." Oh, I saw what she meant. Thinking back on it, she was right. It was not easy.

"I…" I couldn't think of how to start. "At first, I couldn't even move," I admitted. "I was frozen at the sight of her. It was like… well, it was literally narrowly avoiding death, then being confronted with the same thing again later." The best thing I could compare it to was getting hit by a car, receiving minimal injuries but having the shit scared out of you, traumatizing you and giving you nightmares. Then one day, you would be walking to the mall or something and just as you cross the street, oh look! There's that same motherfuckin' car that hit you! A deer in headlights.

"So Emile did all the fighting?" the tactician asked, furrowing her brow.

"No, I managed to snap out of it last minute. Ended up saving his life, I think. How is Emile, anyway?" I took a moment to look behind us, over the rest of the Shepherds, but couldn't see him. "Where is he?"

"He's riding with Maribelle," Robin informed. "And he's doing better, at least according to Lissa. She said he'll be recovered before we arrive at the eastern palace. But back to the fight; did you just get over it, or…?"

"I.. don't really know." I didn't feel much better than I had. There wasn't a weight lifted from my chest, like I'd always thought when one got over something like that. "I guess? I mean, I don't feel liberated. I think it was a spur of the moment thing, like a survival instinct sort of thing. I don't feel like I'm over that one night, and honestly," I shook my head, blinking. "I don't know if I ever will be. I may just be plagued with nightmares for the rest of my life. Who knows?"

"You're being really dismissive about this," she observed.

"Yeah, I tend to be." I had always been, and suspected that was another thing that wouldn't change. "It's just how I am. Don't worry about it too much, alright? I'm no worse than I was before."

"That isn't very comforting," she said, a smile flicking upon her face, then disappearing just as quickly.

"I'm… I'll be alright for now." That still wasn't the most reassuring, I knew, but it was the best I had. I wasn't exactly _good_. My nerves were still buzzing, as if I was still in combat, which was disconcerting, to say the least, but I didn't need to tell Robin that. That could have been because things were still tense. It was just comforting to know that she was concerned. "Check back in on me when we get to the eastern palace." When things calmed down and we were settled somewhere safer, I hoped my nerves weren't tingling. Though that wouldn't be the Eastern palace, I reminded myself. We were going to be attacked on the way, weren't we? Wyverns and mages, I knew.

I hadn't gotten to fight a wyvern yet. I wasn't sure I wanted to, either. Chrom was good enough at it, considering his sword was able to rend them to pieces, but my bland iron blade probably wouldn't even be able to pierce their scales. Wyverns were probably really scary up close, too, so perhaps it was best that I kept my distance.

I probably wasn't going to get to fight in this next battle anyway. With my rib injury, it hurt to make the slightest movement with my arms, or the smallest twist with my torso. The others were better equipped to fight in combat, and Ricken needed all the practice he could get. His wind magic would help cut the wyverns out of the sky, too.

"Hey," I heard Robin say, receiving a light push from the tactician, just hard enough to get my attention.

"What?"

"I asked why you were looking at the skies," she said. "Do you see something past all these clouds?" True enough, the night sky was caught behind a wall of clouds. They didn't appear to be storm clouds, though. They were fluffy, just numerous, and blocked out all the stars.

"No," I said, scolding myself silently. I looked to the sky while thinking about wyverns that were going to attack in a few hours. Nothing suspicious at all about that, dumbass. Gods. Now I had to pull something out of my ass. "No, that's the problem. I wish we could see the stars. My brother showed me where a few constellations were, once upon a time when we went stargazing." There was no saying that the sky of this world held the same constellations as the sky back home, though.

I shouldn't have been talking about my brother, or anything back home. It was bound to make me miss it all, and I was not in the mood to be brought down like that. Robin wanted to continue the conversation, however, saying, "That was nice of him."

"Yeah," I said. "He did a lot of cool shit."

"Really? Like what?" Jesus Christ, woman, I didn't want to talk about this. I didn't want to miss home right now. But I couldn't just cut her down. That wouldn't be like me, so I kept talking.

I told her how my brother would give me books every weekend he came to see me when I was little, and I would fill them up with drawings of dragons and other imaginative creatures. I had always been an imaginative child, and enjoyed putting the things I thought up on to paper. I also told her how brilliant my brother was, and rambled about all the stories he told me; I exempted the ones that didn't make sense due to technological differences, but there were still plenty to share. It was funny. Once I started talking, I couldn't stop. It was a good way to pass the time for a few hours, at least until my eyes started to burn with tears.

Robin noticed, and her expression softened. "Are you okay?" she asked, placing a hand on my shoulder, and I nodded. "What's wrong?"

"I just… I really miss my home." I punctuated the statement with a dry laugh, earning a strange look from the tactician. "And I've been kind of an emotional wreck, lately. It's strange, really. In this past week, I've cried more than I had in the past few years of my life, even though these last years have been the hardest for me." It was strange, to say the least.

"I'm sorry that it's been so hard for you lately," was all she said. "Just know that I am always happy to lend an ear to whatever you need to talk about."

"Of course," I said, forcing a smile. "When it comes to emotional support, you're my first draft pick."

The confused look on her face as she asked, "What?" brought a genuine smile to my face.

"Nothing."

 **Dylan POV Ω:**

"So the Teach didn't see you during the fight last night," Vaike said, walking next to me. He was seemingly unaffected by the fatigue that wore down everybody else, sans Zach and Emile, for obvious reasons. I almost corrected him that it was still the same day as when the palace was attacked, but caught myself, as the sky was brightening with the light of day. Gods, Vaike liked to talk. "Where were you?"

"With Krystal." I couldn't stand his obnoxious tone, and hoped that being standoffish would be enough to put him off. Unfortunately, the 'Teach' was not one to be put off by silence when he could fill it.

"How did you fight inside? I'd figure the halls are too small for a big ol' bird to fly around in them." He wasn't wrong. I had to refrain from transforming into a bird throughout the entire fight, assisting Krystal by poking at enemies that got too close with a lance from a soldier the dark mage had killed. A thing to note about Krystal: despite her shy demeanor, she was more than capable in combat.

Now that we were out in the open, I felt better. Being constricted in those tight halls made me nervous, which was new to me after coming to this world. Now, being outside was liberating, something else that was new. The feeling of fresh air rejuvenated me, and I felt good, despite not having gotten any sleep the night before.

The sun rose higher into the sky, and when it was about halfway to noon, we were walking along a wide path on a cliff side, with a line of mountains cutting off our other side. The sloshing of waves against the rocks hundreds of feet below us was a background noise as I looked to the mountains to our left with my eyes, keeping my face forward so as to not draw suspicion. I wondered if the others were ready for what was coming. Emile was no doubt out of commission for this fight, considering he had yet to wake up. Gods, it was a shame what happened to him, but at least he was going to survive.

And during the night, word of a pair of new recruits spread throughout the collumn. I had expected them to say Panne and Gaius, but I was only part right. Instead, we had the sugar-seeking thief and, in the taguel's place, a mercenary named Robert. I talked to him briefly, and he seemed nice enough. It was clear that he was from Earth, due to the fact that he was not a normal Shepherd and that he recognized me as a taguel. We talked for a time after that, and he was energetic with his words, apparently having plenty of questions at the ready. I told him about Emile, Krystal, Zach, and myself, and how we were all from Earth, as well. It made me wonder just how many earthlings were dropped here, and why.

Aside from the waves below and our steady march on the rocky surface, there was no noise. All conversation had died out, even the futile attempt at engaging one with me by Vaike, and we walked in silence for a time, until Chrom asked the old man in the robes why he kept looking toward the mountain tops. The old man sputtered out some lame excuse, then the air was split with the angry cry of a wyvern. Then, everybody's eyes went to the rocky peaks to see a squadron of wyverns fly over them, some landing ahead of us on the cliff-side path, others flying over where the cliff dropped off, and others still remained perched on some of the lower parts of the mountains. As if on cue, a battalion of archers, thiefs, and barbarians emerged from the sparse foliage spread along the path, brandishing weapons and nasty smiles.

The collective _shing_ as most of the Shepherds drew their weapons was a cacophony in its own, and I prepared to transform, just to see the old man ran forward, toward the enemy. "Hold, sir!" he cried, holding his hands up in a plea for peace. "I am the man Kind Gangrel told you about! Did you not receive orders to take me into your protection?"

I respected Vasto for what he did next. He flew down from the top of the mountain where he was perched, landing his wyvern with its draconic face inches from the old hierarch. "I've orders to protect a man, true…" Vasto gave a displeased scowl to the hierarch. "But I see no man here. Only a pig. A rasher of traitorous bacon that sold out his own sovereign!" There was a menacing anger to the wyvern rider's voice, a brutality to his facial expression that even frightened me a touch. Then the rage turned into a sadistic smile, and he sat up tall. "And what do we do with little piggies, hmm?" he shouted out to his men, earning a laughter from them.

"Well, you…" the hierarch cleared his throat, lowering his arms and holding them close to himself. "I mean, perhaps… You let them go free?"

"Oh," Vasto grinned, waving his arms up in mock surprise. "Are you a chicken now? Bawk Bawk!" He let out a laugh, leaning back, shouting, "We've a whole barnyard in our midst! Well, it don't matter what you are." With that, he leaned toward the hierarch with his dark expression again. "The axe will fall just the same."

The old man turned to run away, back to the Shepherds, but Vasto wasted no time, his wyvern turning so its rider could reach the coward with a swing of his long steel axe. The axe cleaved clean through the old man, bisecting him. As the two halves of the hierarch dropped to the ground, Vasto yanked on his wyvern's reigns, and it lifted into the air. He flew a brief circle over his troops, calling, "Smell that boys? The wind of fortune blows our way! Let's make quick work here and head on home!" With a skyward pump of his axe, his troops erupted in cheer, and he flew back up to his mountain roost.

"Give them no quarter!" was Chrom's response, with a pump of _Falchion_ , the holy blade gleaming in the morning sun, and we let out a rivalling cheer of our own. The majority of the Shepherds stepped forward, Sumia taking to the skies. I took the time to transform into a bird and joined her. A blessing of being a bird laguz, I had fantastic vision, and I watched Chrom closely, flying a tight circle over the Shepherds. I saw him point Emmeryn toward the back of the column, toward where Zach and Maribelle were. She mounted Phila's Pegasus, and the two flew over by the myrmidon and troubadour stood.

I heard the roar of a wyvern, and turned to see one of the riders roosted on the mountain had decided to come after me. I did a barrel roll to avoid the oncoming attack its rider had planned for me, and managed to dodge both that and the bite the mount lashed out with.

I recovered to see the rider flying in a wide to turn return and try his hand at another attack. I was faster by a wide margin, and intercepted him mid-turn, grabbing the rider in my talons. In shock, he dropped his weapon when I grabbed him, and was left to pound at my feet until I dove down and threw him at the mountain he had come from.

His mount was not happy with me killing its rider, and flew at me with an outraged cry. No longer laden with the weight of its rider, it didn't hesitate to lash out at me with its claws and fangs. I cried out as it scratched at me, my voice coming out as a bird's caw, before retaliating with a serious of savage pecks and claws of my own. I pecked at its eye; when I hit my mark, it let out a pained roar, reeling, but I didn't relent. Seizing the opportunity, I pecked at its throat, then twisted and tore. Blood sprayed from its torn throat, and it fell from the sky.

I cast a brief glance downward, and saw the body falling toward the bulk of the Shepherds, so I dropped low enough to grab the wyvern in my claws and dragged it just long enough in the air so it would land without crushing anybody.

I looked down again and saw Chrom cutting down a wyvern in a single stroke, _Falchion_ bathing in the lizard's blood before the prince flicked it clean. Krystal and Virion were trading shots with a pair of archers, and Sully and Stahl were holding a line alongside Kellam, making sure no enemies got too close to Ricken, who was shooting down a wyvern with his wind, and Lissa, who was healing our allies.

Another roar coming from behind me caught my attention, and I dived preemptively, avoiding an attack that I knew was coming. I saw this wyvern fly overhead, then try and pull the same turning maneuver as the last one. This one, however, lost its rider early to an arrow.

I glanced down, seeing Virion lower his bow, and then looked back up to make sure I charged directly at the now unmounted wyvern. I aimed my talons for its throat, and collided with it, both of us twisting through the air. I clenched its neck with one talon, then clawed it with the other, once more carrying it to a safe landing zone.

"Dylan!" I heard a woman call, and looked down. Robin was waving to get my attention, standing safely behind the line with a certain Feroxi myrmidon standing next to her. She waved me to come down, so I dived in a circular motion, circling the bulk of the Shepherds several times before I got low enough to descend quickly. When I landed, I was reminded of how heavy I was as a bird, sending up a small cloud of dust.

"Take Lon'qu into the air with you," the tactician said, and the myrmidon stepped forward. "He can take care of the wyvern riders for you as long as you get him close."

I nodded the best I could with my massive bird head. I crouched low so Lon'qu could climb onto my back by pulling the minimal amount of feathers. Once he was safely on top of me, Robin stepped back to a safe distance, and I ascended with a powerful flap of my wings.

I searched for a target that currently wasn't under fire, which proved fairly difficult. Having taken out all of the archers, Ricken, Krystal, and Virion turned their shots toward the skies, shooting down, or at least _at_ , the wyverns that remained.

"To the right," Lon'que shouted over the wind, a factor which I had a tendency to forget while flying, and I looked where he was pointing with his killing edge. There was a stray wyvern rider, stationary in the air, seemingly searching for a target of his own.

I redirected my course and flew toward it. He was unsuspecting, and I clashed with his wyvern with a hell of an impact, knocking it down a few feet before it caught itself and returned my fight with valour, biting and clawing, the two of us desperately trying to keep to the air as our rider's dueled. I tried to keep as close to the wyvern as I could, knowing that Lon'qu's blade wasn't as long as the wyvern rider's axe.

It didn't take long for the myrmidon to dispose of the wyvern rider, and when he had, he didn't hesitate to make his blade's next target the wyvern itself. When I pulled back after a peck, Lon'qu leaned forward and slashed at its throat with his killing edge, and the dragon fell to the waves, splashing after a few seconds. We made a good team.

 **Zach POV:**

"It looks like they're having fun," I said to Maribelle, looking up at Dylan as and Lon'qu flew off after letting a wyvern drop to the deep blue depths of the sea. Meanwhile, I was stuck on guard duty, keeping Maribelle and Emile safe while the other Shepherds took the fight to the Plegians.

"I'd hardly call that 'fun,'" Maribelle said, scowling as she kept an eye on the unconscious soldier.

"How's he doing?" I asked, stepping away from the rock I was leaning on and uncrossing my arms.

"Well, compared to before," the healer frowned, "he's doing much better. His breathing is smoother and deeper. But he'd lost a lot of blood, and a healing staff can only do so much."

"I don't understand how staves work," I said, scowling. "They can heal wounds like cuts and broken bones, like my rib—"

"Your rib wasn't broken," Maribelle cut me off, setting her staff to the side and resting on a rock. "And while they can heal wounds, bones are more complicated. The bone isn't repaired like flesh wounds, just put in place and mended enough so that the healing process can finish on its own. But our friend Emile's problem is blood loss. When Lissa healed him, she closed his wounds, but that was it. To fix his problem, we would need to create more blood, which frankly isn't possible. Do you understand?"

"I believe so," I said, nodding. Still, healing magic was strange, but I wasn't going to ask again. Maribelle sat on the rock with her eyes closed, looking oddly peaceful. Emile was lying on the ground, under a makeshift cover that we made using a piece of canvas that Maribelle had attached to her saddle and a small tree. She said that it was best to keep him out of the heat. I asked her, sarcastically of course, why we didn't get any cover to hide from the heat under, and she said that when I passed out, she would gladly hide me under the canvas, but until then, I had to suffer through it.

I took this time to reflect on how I really hadn't bothered to make friends with any of the Shepherds aside from Chrom, Robin, and Sumia. I needed to work harder on that, I realized. I actually liked Maribelle, as well as Gaius, and now that they were with us, I needed to get closer to them. As long as I was here, I needed to make friends, and I could certainly do a lot worse than Maribelle.

"What is that?" Maribelle said, snatching my attention. She was holding a hand over his eyes, keeping the sun out of them. I followed her gaze to see a large shape running toward us, and my first thought was of Cordelia. She was supposed to be coming in this chapter, telling us that the Plegian army invaded and took the palace.

But then I realized that Cordelia was supposed to fly in on her Pegasus. This shape was on the ground, and reminded me of a horse with the way it ran. It even seemed to have a rider atop it, bobbing up and down as the shape ran.

"I don't know," I said, narrowing my eyes and drawing my sword. "But be ready." I was nervous. I wasn't sure if I was capable of fighting, and I was certainly not able to if it was a lance user. I didn't tell Maribelle that, and hoped she didn't see how nervous I was.

As the shape grew closer, I realized that what I had previously thought was a rider was a pair of… ears? Wait, what the fuck? Hold on, was that a fucking rabbit? Oh, oh my gods. I lowered my sword as I realized just who was coming. I realized Maribelle was looking at me, confused because I lowered my sword. "It's a taguel," I said, hoping she knew what I meant as I watched Panne run closer.

"A what?" Nope, she didn't. Shit.

"A taguel is a race that can transform into beasts, like that rabbit right there," I pointed at Panne. "I always thought they were extinct, though. I never thought I'd be able to see one."

Panne was kicking up a cloud of dirt behind her as she ran, and this time, I noticed something bouncing on top of her, behind her massive rabbit ears. This something was a mix of red and silver, which was confusing. Nothing about Panne was silver OR red, at least to my memory. When she got closer, she slid to a stop, kicking dirt at Maribelle and I, forcing us to shield her eyes.

" _Manspawn!_ " she said in her distorted, mid-transformation voice. " _I carry one of your wounded!_ " I moved my arm out of my eyes and saw that yes, on her back was a beautiful woman in silver armour and scarlet red hair.

"Holy shit," I cursed, sheathing my sword and running over. The woman was tied to Panne with a thick thread, almost like a rope, which I fought to undo. She was severely injured, as Panne said, and seemingly unconscious. "Maribelle!"

The healer snapped out of her shock at seeing the giant rabbit, shaking her head, then ran toward me. I got the woman untied and picked her up, carried her over to our makeshift cover, and set her down next to Emile. Maribelle went to quick work healing her, her staff lighting up the area.

In the meantime, I turned to the taguel who delivered her to us. "So who are you?" I asked her. "And what happened to her?" I already knew the answers to both questions. Well, I thought I did. But this was definitely turning out differently than it had in the game.

In a flash of purple and white lights bright enough to grab Maribelle's attention, Panne transformed from a 9 foot tall rabbit to a humanoid woman only an inch or so shorter than me. "My name is Panne," she said. "As for what happened, I am unsure. I found her between here and the large manspawn city, alongside an injured Pegasus. The Pegasus was beyond help, but I saw that this manspawn was still alive, and carried her here."

"That'll have to do for now," I said, turning away from her. Maribelle had finished healing the woman, at least with her staff. She was still knelt over her. "Maribelle, how's she doing?"

 **Chrom POV:**

It never ceased to amaze me how easily _Falchion_ cut through wyverns. It took less effort to cut through a wyvern's scales than it did to cut through standard issue armour.

As the battle wound to a close and the enemy's numbers dwindled, I began to make my way to their commander, the wyvern rider who cut down the hierarch. I could hear the screeches of fury coming from Dylan as he tore through the sky, Lon'qu on his back, and the sizzling of spells flying through the air. This battle was over already. All that was left was the commander.

When he saw me coming closer, he hefted his axe and descended from his mountain perch, landing a few feet away from me, with enough force to billow my cape. "So, prince," he said with a smirk. "You've come to face me yourself, eh? I can only imagine the glories I'll receive for killing you off."

There was no saving this man, and I didn't want there to be. It may have been hypocritical of me, but there was no way I would spare the life of someone so willing to throw away human life. This man was dead to me already, so the least I could offer him was a last honour. "Tell me, what is your name?"

His smirk didn't fade, instead growing a tad. "Why do you care? It's not like you're going to need my name in hell."

The corner of my mouth twitched. "It's honourable to know the name of your opponent in single combat," I said, remembering what I'd read in one of those dingy old textbooks in the palace library. "That way, you know who you're sending to the grave."

"You're pulling the chivalry out on me?" he scoffed, then laughed loudly. "Alright, fine. I'm Vasto, one of Plegia's wyvern generals. I'm the man who's going to drop you in the sea, take the Fire Emblem, and fly back to Plegia to claim my rightful glory."

"And I'm Prince Chrom of Ylisse, the man who's going to bring you a swift and merciful death." We each brandished our weapons, _Falchion_ gleaming, and charged.

I had to give him credit; to the end, he fought with confidence, no hesitation at all in his strikes. I parried each of them, and he blocked mine. No hesitation, even when he saw that he missed a crucial swing, and _Falchion_ was able to cut clean through his mount's neck, decapitating the creature. I wasted no time in running my blade through his chest.

His last words were spoken as a whisper as he leaned forward, my sword still penetrating through him and sticking out his back. "You doves think…" he breathed, "that killing me will change anything?" He let out a chuckle, as that was the greatest laugh he could manage. "Even now, my brothers storm across your precious border. Go on, dear exalted coward. Run! Flee while they slaughter your subjects! Save yourself, and let their faith in you run from them like their blood, just as it had with your father."

 **AYYYY, what's good, guys? This chapter is fuckin' huge, if you hadnt' noticed. 12,000 words, by god.**

 **I am pleased with how this chapter turned out. I wasn't at first, but I think it worked out just as well as I'd hoped, if not better. Um, a few differences presented themselves in this chapter. We finally got Ricken, and Panne joined, if a little late. Things are changing.**

 **Also, I added Chapter Titles, and will be from now on. Figured I would point that out.**

 **That's all I have to say for now, I think. It probably isn't and I'll regret it later, but for now, I bid you all farewell!**

 **All of the Oats have left the building.**


	14. Chapter 13: Torn

**A/N: Hello again everyone, Storm here! 111 approached me again to write this little chappie for you all! He is getting ready for a writing contest and needed to get an update out to you, so he asked me to write a chapter for you.**

 **Disclaimer: We be poor farm boys, and own nothing, other than our OC's, who belong to their creators…**

 **First POV**

 **Chrom**

I stood wide-eyed looking as commander Vasto died. What had he meant by that I wonder? My father was a great man in his time. Sure, the purges he led through Plegia weren't the best for either nation, but why not mend the wounds instead of tearing them asunder yet again? Gangrel was a truly real, insane, and cunning king. I knew I'd never be able to deal with these monsters. But now, they've started coming after my sister. If they're that ambitious, I don't know if anybody, not even the Shepherds, can save her.

As I walked away from the corpse of the wyvern and rider, sheathing Falchion, I figured I would check up in the med tent, and make sure Maribelle wasn't too heavily overworked. As I peered my head in, the healer was working on a woman in white and red armor, with dark red hair. It was Cordelia, and she was in real bad shape. Cuts had lacerated into her armor, and large dents appeared in other areas. Whoever did this to one of our best fliers, must have been coordinated in their striking. Also, where were the other knights? Cordelia was here, but no one else? And, where was her Pegasus? Something wasn't adding up.

As I looked around, there were three other people in here, other than Zach and Maribelle. Emile seemed to still be unconscious, laying on a cot. Lissa and Robert were also here, the former healing the wounded, and the latter gazing at Cordelia and how the treatment was going, and then someone I didn't know. She was about Zach's height, wore purple flowing armor, with long brown hair, patches of fur, and floppy ears. She instantly turned to me. Speaking of Zach, he was here too, standing over by Emile.

"You must be the leader of this manspawn… army." She stated. "I am Panne, last of the taguel, I have come to you bearing one of your soldiers. She was extremely injured by the time I got to her. Thankfully this manspawn here was able to heal her and this other one guided me to this medical tent." As she gestured to Maribelle, and Zach respectively.

"Well, I am glad to see that she's still alive… Lissa, how does she fare?

Lissa had dropped her bubbly demeanor for a more somber one. "Well, Chrom, she lost quite a bit of blood, I don't know how long unt-"

Cordelia had woken up, breathing heavily and groaning in severe pain. She looked over to me instantly and started talking.

"Captain Chrom, good to see you. I have a matter of utmost importance to discuss with you."

"Easy, Cordelia, take it slow, what happened?"

"Sir, we were attacked by plegian forces near Ylisstol, they fought fiercely, taking out the Pegasus Knights one by one. They were led by some demon of a woman, white hair, with a dark headband, black shirt, black heel high boots." I heard Zach inhale sharply "She coordinated the strikes well, and my sisters gave me time to get away. Yet that woman was able to coordinate an arrow strike on me. It brought me down hard, if not for my Pegasus breaking my fall, I would've surely died. But now where am I?"

"You're in the medical tent, we just dealt with some Plegians here as well." Gods, she did not look good.

Cordelia started to speak yet again. "I failed them, I failed… them, I failed…" and fell back unconscious. Lissa immediately ran over. She's alive, just really tired.

"Ok," I said pinching my nose, thinking, "I need somebody to watch her and make sure she recovers when she wakes up. She's one of those people who likes to overwork themselves, and we don't need her killing herself over it."

Robert finally moved away from leaning on the tent wall, "I'll do it, I know I'm not just in it for money. And i don't have anything better to do. Plus, she's really hurt, the least I can do is help her."

I nodded, he seemed capable, as personable as he was."Very well, take good care of her Rob."

He flashed a smile and gave a thumbs up, "You can count on me Chrom."

"Alright, well if that's it, I'll get out of your way, don't overwork yourselves you two." I said directed at Lissa and Maribelle. As I left Panne followed me out to go do something. It seems Robert was serious about sticking to his duty. I was simply contemplating this when Emm walked over beside me, accompanied by Phila, and Frederick.

"Chrom? How do the wounded fare?" She asked, with rapt attention.

"So far, it seems like they will pull through alright Emm." as her face fell in relief.

"Good, I wished to speak with you three in private, I have to return to the capital." she replied with a somber mood.

Phila was the first to get over the shock, and yet kept to her duty. "Your Grace, I cannot advise-"

Emm immediately cut her off, "I should have never left. If it's discovered I am away when the news reaches the people… they could panic. Possibly even riot. More Ylisseans could needlessly die. Here, Chrom. I entrust this to you." As she pulled out the Fire Emblem and handed it to me.

There were no words coming through my mouth, I could only think of what was sure to happen if she returned. There was no doubt in my mind that she would be captured. Finally, I was able to stutter out,

"T-T-The F-Fire Emblem?" Close to my breaking point. My hands were shaking I was so scared for her.

She gave a small, simple smile. "Take it to Ferox, to safety."

I knew I couldn't stand for this anymore and steeled myself. "And leave you? Not a chance, Emm."

She sighed as if she knew I would protest. "You and I both know that no part of House Ylisse matters more than that." She pointed to the emblem. "It possesses extreme, almost absolute power, and yet too much blood has been spilt over it already. I just hope it finds you as a better guardian than me." she stated, the somberness evident in her teary eyes.

I knew what was happening now, she was resigning herself to fate, something I never thought would happen, she was giving up.

"Emm, c-come on. You can't… Don't talk like that! You sound like you're already giving up…" I said, nearly incoherent just trying to process what she was saying.

Her mood turned to a more subtler, gentle mood. "I am not, nor will ever, give up, Chrom. I am only giving what I can."

Well I had had enough of these niceties, and finally shouted. "Emm, just please stop! This is complete madness!"

Apparently Lissa either listened in on the whole thing, or just heard me shouting, as she ran out of the tent, near the edge of tears. "Sis Wait! Let me come with you…"

Emm veered around and gave Lissa a stony expression. "No Lissa, you have to stay with Chrom, I command it."

That's when Lissa lost it. Tears started flying wildly from her eyes as she ran to Emm, possibly trying to stow away regardless of Emm's command. Except she was stopped by an iron embrace made by Robert, who also had apparently heard me shout. She instantly punched at him, trying to get away, yet Robert only replied saying. "Stop! Look, Lissa, I know what your going through. I almost lost another one close to me in this same type of situation. We don't need to worry about you too." He smiled and winked at her.

Lissa apparently didn't feel too helped by this. "But don't you see? It's just not Fair! It's never fair! I know the people need you, but what about us?"

Emm laughed lightly, trying to improve Lissa's mood. "Dry your tears love, I never said that this would be goodbye. Just go with your brother." Lissa finally nodded, and Robert let her go as they both returned to the tent. Lissa to her patients, and Robert to his duty.

Phila again spoke up. "Your Grace, the pegasus knights will accompany you to Ylisstol."

Emmeryn nodded. "Very well, Phila. Thank you."

Frederick also voiced his opinion on the issue. "Don't worry, Your Grace. I will keep the prince and princess safe, you have my word."

"I know you will Frederick. Thank you." She finally smiled genuinely.

"It is my honor, milady." Frederick replied with a bow and remained silent.

"Chrom, I am putting Cordelia in your command once she recovers. Her heart will be heavy, but her sisters' memories should carry her through it." Phila said, putting the Shepherds a member stronger.

"Very well, but Emm, you still don't have to leave. This is all so absurd!" I stated as the two turned to leave.

Emm turned back. "Chrom, you just don't-"

I'd had enough of her justifying her actions. I shouted, "Walking to your own death will solve nothing! Ylisse needs you. WE need you. Just be selfish for yourself at least once in your life!"

I finally broke down, tears were flowing down my face. I just didn't want her to go right to the enemy to face capture, maybe even d-... no, don't think like that. It wouldn't make the thought any better, I just had to keep trying to convince her.

Emm finally wrapped me in an embrace, and I could feel tears streaming down my back, as she replied emotionally, "I love you Chrom, you and Lissa are my… everything, nothing to do with being exalt makes me _not_ think of you both everyday. As for the peace that I seek, you don't see who exactly it's for. Don't you see? To achieve this peace, I have to go. I am truly sorry, but just keep going. I'll be in Ylisstol when you arrive with Feroxi reinforcements. I know with all of my heart that you will come."

I laughed lightly and the words came out thick. "This is still a terrible plan…"

She finally let go and looked me in the eyes. "The blood of the first exalt flows strong in us. You and I will keep Ylisse safe." She stood up and turned to go to Phila's pegasus. "Safe journey, Chrom. Tell Lissa I love her." and she flew off into the afternoon sky.

I couldn't help but look into the receding shapes of pegasi, I just only hoped she was ok. It was then I looked down, tears stained the dirt beneath me, my hands were balled into the fists, and the fire emblem was laying on the ground in front of me. No, I had to take care of Emm, first we had to go to Ferox, we needed reinforcements.

"Emm, don't worry, I'll make sure you get those reinforcements."

I then stood up and went to Frederick, "We leave in 20 minutes, we make for Ferox with all due haste."

"Yes milord, I will inform everyone."

"Alright, go on. I'll tell Lissa and Maribelle."

As Frederick moved off to tell all the Shepherds, I moved to the tent. Lissa was still crying lightly, when I wrapped her in a hug. "It will be ok Lissa. Emm will make it."

"If you say so, Chrom."

"Captain, I hear I am under your command now." Cordelia had woken up again, and looked like she was able to walk.

"Yes, but for now, we are going to keep you in recovery, just to make sure you don't make yourself worse by overworking."

Cordelia sighed, "Very well, if you say so, Captain."

"Robert will also be watching you, just in case."

She finally looked over to the red coated merc. "I guess I'm ok with that."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, I'm not that bad. Right Chrom?"

"I don't know yet." I kept a strong face, and forced a smile, keeping my voice from wavering. "I guess we will see."

He chuckled at that "Oh fine, whatever, screw you too."

"We move out in 20 minutes, all of you by the way. So be ready." I replied.

Today was rough, but now it's time to get through it.

 **Robert, A few hours later**

Well, marching still sucked, at least it wasn't like in band. This was more like walking than anything, and it gave me a chance to think, and converse with fellow Shepherds. My main goal right now was to meet all the other guys from Earth. Dylan seemed nice, if a bit standoffish, and Krystal was a little timid around me. Heh, kinda reminded of my sister, NO! Don't think about home, then you get homesick, but like who would miss me anyway I guess. That still left good old injured, shirtless Zach.

Oh great, bandits, just what I wanted. Guess that convo will have to wait, still gotta take care of Cordy, don't need her dying on me.

An axe wielder instantly tried to slash behind me, he was met with a fist to the face, followed by a disarm and then a sword through his gut. I'll be damned if I fail my duty to Chrom, I need to make sure they know I'm not just in it for myself.

A myrmidon followed his axe wielding friend a moment later, a lance through his throat. Appears Cordelia could still fight without her pegasus. 4 barbarians, and two archers later, we had successfully found Chrom surrounded, but he was soon unpinned by a waylaying Frederick. God, I hope I never get in the way of that horse… Finally, a Soldier, wielding a steel lance, and javelins was duking it out with our captain, and was actually giving Chrom a run for his money. Finally, he was so embroiled with Chrom that he didn't see Zach get behind him and run him through with his blade, leaving him wide open for a decapitation by Chrom.

 **Zach**

I groaned, attempting to wipe the now dead lancer's blood from myself. I only succeeded in smearing it, however. I was going to need something to wipe it off with, later, but it was probably going to dry to my skin before i had the chance. At least there wasn't too much.

Chrom sheathed his sword, offering a brief apology, as well as a thanks for my assistance, and called for us to resume our march to Ferox. I was not looking forward to the cold. I wish I knew what happened to my shirt, because as things stood, i was going to suffer through the snow later today, and that was not ideal.

I began walking alongside Robin again, though the two of us remained silent for a time afterward. I caught her making occasional glances at me, but that was about it until we were far north enough that it started to get chilly, and I had goosebumps, at which point she sighed and slipped off her coat, demanding I put it on.

"I'm fine," I said, giving her a smile.

"You're cold," the tactician said, urging the coat into my hands. "It's only going to get colder, and you aren't wearing a shirt, so put on the damned coat."

"Then you'll just be cold," I replied, "and I pride myself on my manners." I gave her a cheeky grin, again, and she rolled her eyes. "Besides, it used to get really cold back home, especially during the winter," I said, "so I'm more acclimated to this weather than you are." True enough, it got really cold back home, sometimes. Though I had never really gone shirtless in the cold back home, I was certain I could handle it for a little while, at least.

"Are you really that adamant to refuse my offer?" Robin asked, perplexed.

"I'm not adamant," I corrected. "I'm just…"

Whatever I was going to say after trailing off was left to the wind as that red-coated mercenary-I couldn't, for the life of me, remember what his name was-walked up, hands in his pockets. "Hey," he greeted, "you're Zach, right?"

"Yes," I answered warily. I gazed at him with caution, looking him over carefully. He didn't seem to have any weapons, aside from the sheathed sword hanging at his waist, but one could never be too careful. He looked to be from Earth-actually, I was certain he was from Earth. Even then, that didn't mean I could trust him. Just because he was from Earth didn't mean he was on our side. If there was anything I learned from my two encounters with Dawn, it was that. So I would watch him, and if he showed any signs of being on Dawn's side, I wouldn't hesitate to act. "And you are…?"

"Robert," he supplied, putting out his hand to shake. I glanced up at him, then shook his hand with a firm grip. "Chrom hired me during the attack on the palace. We spoke briefly but… I'm assuming you forgot?"

"You would be right." It wasn't in my nature to be so standoffish, and speaking this curtly was odd, even to my own ears, but I tried not to let it show. I didn't trust him. I couldn't trust him yet. Not until I knew he wasn't like Dawn.

"Well, back then you mentioned that you and Emile were attacked by someone named Dawn." Robert paused, raising an eyebrow at me. When I said nothing, he continued. "And I don't…" He stopped talking, then looked past me at Robin. "I'm sorry, Robin, but could I speak to him privately for a sec?"

The tactician looked at me, silently asking if I was fine with that. I nodded, and she walked ahead, toward where Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa were leading the column, albeit with a final reluctant glance. I instinctively set my hand on the pommel to my sword.

"So you plan to 'S-Rank' the tactician?" Robert asked, watching Robin walk away. "I get ya'."

"What did you need?"I barked. He was probably just trying to be friendly, but I couldn't trust him yet. For all I knew, this mercenary was just trying to gauge who I close to and kill them so it would fuck with my head more. That was nowhere near likely, but again, I couldn't be too careful. Besides, no. I did not plan to 'S-Rank' Robin. That was… that just sounded bad.

Surprised by my sharp tone, Robert gave me a weird look. Regardless, he spoke in a hushed, lowered voice,, "Basically, i don't recognize the name Dawn, and I've played through this game more times than I can count. That means, whoever she is, she is not from the game, and more than likely from Earth, like us. And you," he pointed a finger at me, "seem to have some history with her. I would like to get a heads-up on my enemy, so I need you to tell me everything you know."

I relaxed my muscles when i realized how tense I was, and let out a slow, steady breath. "In short," I began, "Dawn is a sadistic bitch that has almost killed me twice now. She is cruel and evil, and, I've never hated anyone before, but that fucking…" I let myself trail off and collected myself. "I don't like her. Dawn shouldn't be considered a human. She is an animal, hunting and toying with her target until she decides that it is best to kill them. She was almost too much for Emile and I together to take down, and apparently she isn't even dead, so forgive me if I'm a little on edge."

It was as good an excuse as any. I battled with the idea of mentioning how her mere existence was enough to make me distrust Robert, but decided against it. He didn't need to know, as he didn't ask. If he did, then perhaps I would tell him the truth.

"She will bring unimaginable pain, just for the thrill of it. Probably fuckin' gets her off. And you're right. She is from Earth, just like us. She speaks Italian and tries to act all sexy." There was more venom in my voice than I had ever put there. So much that it almost surprised me. "My point is, don't fight her. I don't know if she has another sword, but she knows how to use magic, so a fight with her puts you at a disadvantage. Now if you don't mind, I do not want to talk about her anymore." Speaking of the witch brought a horrid taste to my mouth and a shadow over my mind.

Robert remained silent for a time, staring at the ground as we walked. I could tell he was thinking deeply. I turned my own eyes to the late noon sky. I had the feeling we would get to Ferox in the middle of the night, and it was going to get cold. This was going to suck.

"It's going to get cold, soon," the merc said. "Do you want to borrow this?" He offered me his coat, and I briefly considered it before declining with a shake of my head. Even if I didn't trust him, it wasn't like me to take from strangers like that. He gave me a peculiar look, but put his coat back on and stared straight ahead, going silent once more. "You don't like me very much, do you?" Robert asked suddenly, and my eyes shot to meet his.

"I'm sorry?"

"I've been around it enough to know when people don't like me, and it's clear you don't," he repeated. "And you don't have to, but I would at least like to know why, considering we've never had a real conversation before."

"It's not that I don't like you," I corrected, not meeting his eyes, even though I could see him looking at me through my peripherals. "No, I don't trust you. And I'm sure you can imagine why." With that, I picked up my pace and caught up to Robin, who was flipping through her Ancient Languages book. Robert didn't follow me, which I respected. It irked me to leave the conversation like that, but I was more uncomfortable keeping it going and holding up this metaphorical mask. Being distrustful was hard.

 **Robert, 2 hours later**

Well we finally made it to Ferox. Man, good thing i still got my dri fit under this coat, or i'd be really close to freezing right now. Ever since them bandits, we had a pretty good run about it, weather never got in the way, but everyone was still in low spirits, and the cold didn't help. Oh, and it looked like Emile had recovered as well. He reminded me a lot of some school chums of mine, mixing up his words, yet also being unfiltered in what he was saying, looked like me and him could get along well together.

Cordelia and I talked a little on the way, but she still seemed too exhausted to hold a real conversation. But man it was cold. Wisconsin winters were a cakewalk compared to this, and that's saying something. when your used to almost 20 below zero during a cold snap, and then saying its cold, no matter how you put it, it's still cold. Either way, as everyone was walking in to get warm, i figured a good set of music might raise up spirits even more. Only problem was, my electric guitar was back at Earth, speaking of, my band's probably missing me too. Man, maybe more people cared about me than I thought. So, as soon as we made it, I saw Chrom was handing out money, paychecks I assume, but who knows. I walked up and he handed me a decent sized pouch, and another, less filled one.

"A bonus for all your doing for us in the short time you've been here."

"Hey thanks man, do me a favor, have everyone meet in the mess hall, I got a surprise for 'em."

"What kind of surprise?" Chrom asked, almost too suspiciously for my taste.

"Nothing bad, I just need to go get something, be back in about 15 minutes." I said, already getting excited.

"Very well, don't keep us waiting too long." Chrom smiled, and then went inside to grab everyone. Now, time to find a music store. It was getting real dark real fast, I knew I had to hurry. Quickly, I asked around, and some locals pointed me to a small shack near some inns. I quickly ran inside as the clerk was nearly turning the sign to "Closed."

"Wait, please, I need a guitar."

"Well, sure lad, come on in... what do you prefer."

There were acoustic guitars of all types, I finally settled on a 12 fret, long, black, metal stringed acoustic, which played with a bit more metallic sound.

"This'll be perfect." Oh wow, what does that say? I couldn't read the price tag, stupid nearsightedness. I quickly delved into a jacket pocket to retrieve my glasses. It said 420 gold. Well this was pretty high end then. Sounds good to me.

I went up and paid, and he also presented me with a few picks, blank sheet music, and even a flyer for other instruments. There was also a smooth, black leather case for my guitar.

"Don't worry on the house," he said as he also handed me a slide, man I haven't played lap guitar in so long.

"Thanks, really appreciate this. Have a good night." I said as I left and waved.

"You as well!" he shouted as the door closed. I then made my way back to the castle, making sure to grab some water on the way, don't need my voice getting too hoarse.

As I walked into the mess hall, it was packed with both feroxi and shepherds alike, I had no idea just how many people Chrom got to come. Hell, the Khans, Olivia, some commoners. Even Zach and the other earthlings came. Welp, no time like the present to dazzle a crowd.

"Just give me one moment, and then I'll start." I replied, quickly taking out my new guitar and tuning it for my first song.

"Alright, for those of you that don't know, I played in a number of bands back home, playing guitar and singing. I thought a concert might raise everyone's mood a little bit." I cleared my throat, I was surprisingly nervous. "I might be a bit rusty for the first couple songs, so just bear with me a little bit." That earned a few laughs from the Shepherds and some feroxi guffaws thrown in there.

Hmm, so what to play first? Linkin Park sounded pretty good with this, as those metal strings sounded surprisingly electric. Alright I got it.

Everyone watched with rapt attention as i stood there, hand on the guitar, when I started clapping in a distinct rhythm, for the first couple beats they didn't know what was goin on, but after saying "clap with!" They joined in with full force. Finally, i started with my guitar riff, going into "Given Up" by Linkin Park.

 _Wake in a sweat again_

 _Another day's been laid to waste_

 _In my disgrace._

Some of the shepherds began nodding along as the lyrics continued, and I knew they were enjoying themselves.

 _Stuck in my head again_

 _Feels like I'll never leave this place_

 _There's no escape_

 _I'm my owwn worst enemy!_

 _I've Given UPPPPPPPP!_

 _I'm Sick of Feeling!_

 _Is there nothing you can say?_

 _Take this allllll away_

 _I'm suffocating!_

 _Tell me what the fuck is wronggggg with meeeee!_

The shepherds raised their glasses in a salute, and as i continued some even started to sing along with the chorus.

 _I don't know what to take_

 _Thought I was focused but I'm scared_

 _I'm not prepared_

 _I hyperventilate_

 _Looking for help somehow, somewhere_

 _And no one cares_

 _I'm my own worst enemy_

 _I've Given Upppppp!_

Finally, the last guitar riff came, and the song ended. Applause was rapturous, surprisingly. Many were standing.

"Thank you, Thank you!" I replied, taking a drink.

"Now, I've got a slightly more laid back song for you guys… so feel free to grab a partner and dance!" soon after, I was plucking along to Breathe by Pink Floyd.

They seemed to enjoy the long instrumental for sure. They were just swaying along to the music as it cascaded through the guitar, followed by light picking to mask the accompaniment. All through that one guitar, which I now played on my lap. I'll never thank that clerk enough for that slide, as it made it easier to play a more smooth sound on that guitar. While it sounded nothing like the original, it still wasn't too bad to the ear.

 _Breathe! Breathe in the Air!_

 _Don't be afraid to care_

 _Leave but don't leave me_

 _Look around and choose your own ground_

 _For long you live and high you fly_

 _And smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry_

 _And all you touch and all you see_

 _Is all your life will ever be_

 _Run! Rabbit Run!_

 _Dig that hole, forget the sun_

 _And when at last the work is done_

 _Don't sit down, it's time to dig another one_

 _Long you live and high you fly_

 _But only if you ride the tide_

 _And balanced on the biggest wave_

 _You race toward an early grave_

As the second instrumental came around, there were actually people dancing in the middle of the hall, I could see Olivia dancing amidst the crowd, Zach and Robin were also dancing. No surprise there, although it did look like Robin was the only one dancing. And it looked like even the Khans were having some fun together on the dance floor. Most of it was just light dancing from the music. Others, like Vaike, Gaius, Stahl, and Chrom, held their mugs in the air in just moving to the music, trying to sing along, but couldn't. As the song died down i was met with even more applause.

"Alright everyone, This one goes out to all the Ylisseans in the Crowd! Cuz I know for sure some of us wish to be home. But that will wait for tomorrow… For now, I can tell some are feeling, Far From Home." Ahh, I was waiting to play this one. Metal music always brought out such strong messages for me.

As the opening line played, I could tell Chrom was suddenly much more interested into the music, almost engrossing himself in the song. The opening verse started playing.

 _Another day in this carnival of souls_

 _Another night settles in as quickly as it goes_

Many were still enjoying the slowness of the intro, but soon they would be in for a shock.

 _The memories are shadows_

 _Ink on the page_

 _And I can't seem to find my way home_

As i moved into the bridge of the chorus, many realized the pick up in tone and speed, and some didn't even know what to think with the lyrics. Many resigned to just listen along.

 _And it's almost like_

 _Your heaven's trying everything_

 _Your heaven's trying everything_

 _To keep me out_

 _All the places I've been and things I've seen_

 _A million stories that made up a million shattered dreams_

 _The faces of people I'll never see again_

 _And I can't seem to find my way home_

As i moved into the true chorus, many rose up and cheered along with the music. Huh, that had never really happened with me before. Maybe with a couple people at shows, but never the whole audience.

 _Cause it's almost like_

 _Your heaven's trying everything to break me down_

 _Cause it's almost like_

 _Your heaven's trying everything to keep me out_

 _Cause it's almost like_

 _Your heaven's trying everything to break me down_

 _Cause it's almost like_

 _Your heaven's trying everything_

 _Your heaven's trying everything to break me down_

The cheering continued even as the song started winding down. Gradually, it started to get more quiet so the audience could hear my ever decreasing vocals.

 _To break me down_

 _To break me down_

 _To break me down_

The final note rang out from my guitar to nothing but silence. Then, out of nowhere, smiling one of the grandest smiles i had ever seen out of him, Lon'qu stood up and started cheering and applauding, followed by Chrom's group, and eventually the whole hall joined in. Been a long time since I got one of those.

"ENCORE! ENCORE!" The crowd starting calling at me, assuming I was done.

"Alright, I'll play one more for your guys, here's to Ylisse and Ferox!" as the hall roared in triumph, I decided to end it the only way I could think of… an instrumental like no other…

I re-tuned my strings up higher, knowing there was no way to hit the pitches otherwise, and began to strum along on Id (Purpose), I wished to impart some of the awesomeness from the final fight into everyone listening to the sweet sound of the choir i was able to somewhat recreate. Everyone suddenly was right back into it, but yet remained silent, letting the pure, luscious tone of the music shine true amid the stonework of the castle.

I finally looked around the room, it wasn't just power they could feel from the song, they were awestruck, I even saw some feroxi soldiers with tears in their eyes. Even Vaike, the Teach known for his mouth, was quiet. Cordelia couldn't believe what she was hearing, I could tell. I shot her a wink, and kept going.

Eventually, about halfway through playing the song, a female voice joined my own, off to my right. As I looked, it was none other than Olivia, her voice was heavenly, at least it blew me out of the water. Soon enough, it was reaching its end, in which i switched the ending to the Fire Emblem theme, and ultimately it made up for an epic finale. The crowd went utterly ballistic, to say the least. I even received a standing ovation, something that never happened for me when I performed solo.

Vaike piped up over the crowd. "YEAHHH! TEACH IS FIRED UP!" and ran out of the castle to plaster himself in a snowbank. Everyone laughed so hard that several fell over from that stunt.

As I took care of my guitar, Olivia came up to me and automatically blushed. "H-h-hi there, y-you can p-play and s-s-sing really well."

"Oh hey thanks, but you sing way better than me. And you can dance, something I'd never even consider doing."

She turned an even deeper shade of red. "N-no, my dancing isn't that good."

"Oh come on, I don't need a judge's patch to see a good dancer."

She blushed even more. "W-well, thank you. H-have a good night." and she ran away without a final thought.

Suddenly, Basilio rushed up to where I was a few minutes ago and bellowed as loud as humanly possible: "EVERYBODY LISTEN UP!" as everyone quieted down, and Vaike came in, covered in snow, Basilio sighed.

"Thank you, one of my spies on the southern border just reported back, where's Chrom?"

The prince rushed to the forefront of the crowd. "Here Basilio, what is it?"

He had a pained expression on his face. "Lad, I don't know if there is any other way to tell you, dark news has come from the south. Ylisstol… has fallen."

 **A/N: Hey everyone, before I hand it back over to Oats, I highly recommend you listening to these songs just to get a glimpse at exactly what songs were in the concert. Just search them in google and you should find a video on them. I don't claim to own any of this music either.**

 **Given Up-Linkin Park**

 **Pink Floyd-Breathe (In the Air)**

 **Five Finger Death Punch-Far From Home**

 **FE: Awakening-Id(Purpose)**

 **And it's Oats, again. As you can see, I let Storm take this chapter again. Like he said, I'm fairly busy, what with this writing thing going on. Don't plan on this being a regular thing, as I shouldn't be busy like this again for a while. If I am, well, that's tough shit. Y'all will just have to wait, at that point. THIS IS STILL MY STORY, DAMMIT!**

 **But yeah, Stormrider wrote almost the entirety of this chapter. Once again, all I wrote was Zach's POV. Thank him for getting this out as fast as it was. If it was left to me, I'm not even sure I'd have started, so yeah. Leave a review, let us know what you think, and thanks for reading.**

 **All of the Oats have left the building.**


	15. Chapter 14: The Grimleal

**ROOOOARR ROAR DISCLAIMER**

 **I'm fuckin' losing it, guys.**

 **Emile POV** :

When I woke up, Sully told me what happened and how I had been unconscious all day. My wounds had been healed, but I still had to be careful so as to keep them that way. The entire way up to Ferox, the cavalier talked about lance fighting and ways to get better at it. We agreed to train together we I got better, and she said she was looking forward to it.

Chrom handed out everybody's pay when we arrived in the Feroxi palace, and I decided to go to my room to get some sleep. Despite only being awake for a few hours, I was exhausted again.

My thoughts had been on that Dawn character for the entire time I was awake, about how strong she was and the way she seemed to already know Zach. He had frozen in her presence, and it occurred to me now that the reason he was acting strange before was somehow caused by her.

She had almost killed me. I tried fighting her alone and never landed a hit on her. Even when Zach and I teamed up, she didn't go down without a fight. We both almost died, and though my memory of the last moment of the fight was hazy, I recalled a bright flash, and then she was gone along with my lance. I didn't think we even killed her.

Dawn. The attitude she displayed… It was like she didn't even care. She waltzed about, flinging explosions and swinging her sword. For the first time since being here, I didn't feel bad about hurting her or wanting to stab through her, piercing her spine and severing all the nerves from that point downward. Zach was sure to feel my sentiment.

My eyes were just beginning to close when I heard a knock at my door. I heaved my tired body off of the bead and opened the door to see Dylan standing there, his face forming its ever present scowl. "What's up?" I asked. Despite his demeanor, he was calm, and his response had no urgency to it.

"Chrom told me to get you and Krystal. I guess the new guy is throwing some sort of event for the Shepherds. Chrom said he ran off to grab a guitar first, so I'm assuming he's going to play some music."

"New guy?" We got someone new while I was out? I figured we got Gaius, Panne, and Cordelia while I was out, the former two were certain as I'd marched alongside them after I woke up. As far I remembered, Gaius didn't play guitar.

"Yeah, his name is Robert," the laguz said. "He's from Earth like us. A mercenary. Didn't Sully tell you about him?"

I thought back on what the red cavalier said during the time we talked. She did mention something about new recruits, saying something about a rabbit woman, a thief, and a mercenary. She never mentioned any names, but she may have not known them herself. "She might have," I said. "Where are we going?"

"We have to get Krystal, and then we'll head down to this ballroom upstairs." So we did. I almost felt bad about bringing Krystal along. When we told her about the event, I noticed her freeze for a second, before accepting with a serious stutter to her voice. She was hesitant, and I told her she didn't have to, but she came along anyway. She disliked me for some reason.

Dylan lead us to the ballroom with mechanical accuracy. It was like he had the path memorized, and I was about to ask when the doors pushed open toward us, Flavia almost slamming them in our faces. She apologized, flashing us a brief smile before stepping past us.

Inside was a dimly-lit room with a collective of round tables arranged so that they formed a large circle in the middle of the room. It looked more like a dinner banquet than a concert, I thought, with the candles on each tables casting an orange light of the dark red colouring that coated the rest of the room. It was pleasant, though, and the three of us moved to sit down at an empty table. Each table was decorated the same, topped with a white-cream table cloth with straight, plain edges. The chairs were made of the same dark brown wood as the tables, creating a uniformity of the room that made it seem strangely professional for a place in Ferox.

"This is nice," I said, earning a meek nod from Krystal and silence from Dylan, the latter folding his arms. He was looking over the crowd of Shepherds that had gotten here before us. The way his eyes darted over their heads made me thinking he was searching for something. "What are you looking at?" I asked, and he shook his head.

"Nothing. Just looking." I frowned, but dropped it. He seemed to be the quiet, brooding sort, which was cool. We needed one of the those in our little group. I turned around, as my chair was pointed so my back faced the crowd, and looked out over it, as well. I saw Frederick speaking with Cordelia, who had a bandage wrapped around her abdomen. How had she been injured? The two of them were speaking without looking at each other, aside from the occasional glance by Cordelia.

Aside from them, I saw Chrom and Lissa standing together. I noticed that the prince still had _Falchion_ strapped to his waist, and his foot was tapping. I assumed the whole situation with Emmeryn was wearing on him. He stuck close to his sister. They were facing away from me though, so I was unable to read their faces.

Behind him, Donnel and Panne were talking about something. The farm boy was looking up at the taguel with astonishment in his eyes, and I could tell by the way he clenched his fists that he was super excited. I wondered if they were talking about vegetables or something.

Miriel was sitting at a table across from us with perfect posture, paging through a tome. Ricken was looking over her shoulder to read with her. How the two of them managed to read through this noise was a mystery to me, but Miriel remained unbothered by both that and Ricken's presence.

Sumia and Gaius were sitting together. If I squinted, I could see a suit of armour, which meant there was a good chance that Kellam was joining them. Gaius was staring at the Pegasus knight, his hand out, begging to be shaken. Sumia's raised eyebrow hinted that she was just as confused as I was, despite being able to hear what the thief had said.

Maribelle, Sully, Stahl, and Vaike filled a table, with the troubadour and green cavalier engaged in a controlled conversation while the red cavalier and fighter spoke about something else in loud, boisterous words that I could almost make out over the din caused by everyone else.

Lon'qu leaned against the far wall, keeping his distance from everyone else with his arms crossed. He was dressed in casual wear, however, which seemed most out of place on the myrmidon.

The fact that Zach and Robin were sitting at their own table was unsurprising to me. Robin tilted her head back in laughter as Zach looked away with a frown.

"How did Cordelia get hurt?" I asked without looking back at the table. No use holding eye contact with someone who wasn't looking, and I knew Krystal was going to stay silent.

"Don't know," Dylan said. "She arrived like that. Zach said Panne was carrying her, and she was hurt pretty bad, but nothing else."

Before I could ask anything else, a sharp whistle cut through the air, silencing everybody except for a few people who had to get a few more words in. All eyes moved to see the source of the noise, and were met with the sight of a man in a jeans and a pair of boots. I assumed that this was Robert, the man who would be giving us a show tonight, if the guitar hanging loosely over his shoulder by a leather strap was any indication.

After a brief introduction, he strummed a few experimental chords on his guitar and cleared his throat. "Feel free to dance of sing along," he said, then closed his eyes. He started slow, but picked up the pace of the song and started playing.

The more he played, the more I realized that he was playing songs from Earth. There were melancholic tones, and what would be aggressive notes had they not been played in such a mellow fashion. Overall, Robert was playing quite well. I was impressed, as I was sure most of the Shepherds were. Everyone had gone silent, listening in awe.

At some point, the music took a quicker, energetic mood, and many Shepherds stood up to dance. This cheer was welcome after the recent occurences, and everybody appreciated it immensely. I was nice to let go, even if I could only make slow movements to keep my wounds from reopening.

Then the beautiful, melodic voice of a certain pink-haired singer joined in with Robert's at the beginning of a softer song, and it was a popular idea to grab the person nearest to you and dance along to the calm tune. Chrom and Lissa danced, Miriel paired with Ricken, Dylan managed to get Krystal to participate, Sully gave me a casual shrug and took my hand, Sumia took the lead with Gaius, Frederick held Cordelia at a professional distance and executed practiced ballroom movements, Maribelle taught Stahl through his clumsy steps, Robin dragged Zach to his feet and got him to move, and Donnel was stuck with Vaike as Panne slinked out of the crowd to abstain from participating.

For a time, everybody was having some degree of fun. The thought of the dawning war was out of our heads. I thought Frederick even cracked a smile. All was well. But of course that couldn't last. Just as Robert was doing his final bow, his performance having finished, Basilio burst through the door and climbed onto the stage. "Where's Chrom?" called his booming voice.

"I'm right here," Chrom answered, rushing to the front of the crowd. Everyone had gone silent, the urgency in the khan's voice not escaping them. "What's wrong?"

"I've some bad news, lad," Basilio said, kneeling down. "Yllistol has been taken, and the Exalt's been captured." Chrom froze, his body going rigid, and I heard Lissa gasp. Murmurs began to spread amongst the Shepherds, but Basilio continued to speak. "Our reports say that she isn't in any immediate danger, but that the Mad King seeks to use her as ransom for the Fire Emblem."

"I see."

"What of the Royal Guard?" Cordelia asked, taking her place next to Chrom. "What happened to them?" I could hear the poorly concealed concern tinging her words.

"No idea," the khan admitted. "But it's safe to assume that they were either all captured or killed." She stepped back, silent. "Lad," Basilio's voice was softer than I thought it could be. "Whatever you're thinking, you have to play smart with your next few moves. Listen to your tactician. In the war that we're heading into, you can't win your battles by rushing in. You need to take account of your resources and the condition of your men, as well as the resources and men of your enemy, then plan around that."

"I understand," the prince muttered. "Robin." At the mention of her name, the tactician pushed to Chrom's side. "What is our best course of action?" I knew what he wanted to hear. He wanted her to say that it would be wisest to head after Emmeryn right now and rescue her from Gangrel's clutches.

"The Shepherds are exhausted, Chrom." Robin's words came out slow, like she was testing the waters. "We need rest and resources, or we won't make a march into the desert. If we want to rescue Emmeryn, we will need to be prepared."

"Fine. How long will that take?"

"Flavia and I can get you stocked up in a few days," Basilio informed.

"Will that be enough time for us to rested up enough?" Chrom asked, and Robin nodded. "Good. I think I can wait until then." He turned around to face all of us, repeated the important stuff for those who didn't hear. "Get some rest," he said. He put his arm around Lissa, and the two of them walked out of the room.

"Well you heard the boy," Basilio shouted, waving his arms to shoo us out. "Go and get some rest. Troublesome times are coming, and you all want to be ready."

I got the feeling that the same thought was in everybody's mind. We were about to head into open war with Plegia. While we were all trained to fight, the fact that we were going to fight in an army, staining battlefields with blood and steel. Some of us were more ready than others. This tingle racking my mind and body was no stranger to me, but a long lost friend. It was like the nervousness I would experience before a big game, but last time, that hadn't boded well. I grew uneasy, rubbing my arm thoughtlessly as a pit formed in my stomach.

I somehow managed to fall asleep, but it was not ideal. I dreamt of death, shouting and screams, all over the muffled sound of steel on steel.

 **Robin POV:**

The next two days went by in a blur of packing, training and planning.

Frederick went even harder than usual once we were all rested up, forcing us to march dozens of laps around the training courtyard. We all had to don backpacks that had to weigh upwards of 90 pounds in order to simulate the exhaustion brought on by marching through dunes of sand while wearing full armour. This training was not without reason, however.

I had announced that we were going to cut around west, avoiding the desert for as long as we could. We would travel with a wagon convoy up until then, and all of ours supplies would be stored within the wagons. When we reached sand, however, the wheels couldn't move very well and would just slow us down, so we were going to have to leave them at the natural border and travel by foot, carrying our tents, water, food, weapons, and everything else.

We would be moving alone, with minimal Feroxi aid aside from supplies and weaponry. This way, we would be able to move faster and quieter. We were less obvious without an entire army trailing us, after all. The only Feroxi coming with us were those guiding us down to where we would cross into the desert, and after that, we were on our own.

Basilio and Flavia had been more help than we had ever imagined. Basilio offered resupplies for our weapons and vulneraries, as well as giving everybody that lacked it a set of chainmail to wear.

Flavia helped me plot out our path, and told me of several places where we would be able to rest and resupply once we'd gotten into Plegia. The path we were taking was all plains until it hit sand, so it would be easy, fast travelling. The path through the desert was also the easiest one we could take, hitting as many oases on the way to the Plegian capital as possible without being too predictable.

We were told to pack as light as our supplies would allow. The sweltering heat of the desert would be a greater enemy than the Plegians would, so we had to keep plenty of water on hand.

Our plan was also never told to anybody except for those who would be participating in it, as per Basilio's orders. Keeping information close made it harder for spies—a tip that he said would help me through the duration of a full-scale war like this.

I was in the middle of thanking him for all of his assistance when one of his own spies ran into the room, breathless. "Sire," he barked, saluting. "I bring dire news." The khan and I looked at him expectantly, but he didn't speak until Basilio cleared his throat. "The Mad Kind has arrived back at Castle Plegia, and he has given the announcement that if the Fire Emblem is not delivered to him in two weeks, the Exalt will be publicly executed."

I silently thanked the gods that Chrom wasn't in here to hear that. But this still changed so much. Basilio thanked the spy for his service and dismissed him. When the door shut, I slumped against the wall. "We will need to leave as soon as possible," I muttered, and the khan nodded.

"You go tell the boy what has happened and get a move on. I'll get to work on organizing our own troops so we can get a move on. Regicide is not something accepted here in Ferox, so we'll do what we can to have your backs."

"Thank you, Basilio," I said, forcing a smile and shaking his hand. "For everything."

"Of course."

"Thank Flavia for me too." He nodded, and I headed out of the room with a degree of speed in my step. We were pressed for time now. I supposed we were lucky that he even gave us that much time, but still. Two weeks was not a lot of time to cross a desert, even given our current plan. It was possible that I would have to modify the plan as we went in order to save time, but for now, we had to get going.

I almost ran into Chrom. He was leaving his room when I rounded a corner. I told him about the news, and the shock in his eyes hurt to see. "Chrom, we don't have time. We have to get to Plegia in two weeks, so we need to move _now_." He was unresponsive, so I grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Come on, Chrom, we have to go. Get all of the Shepherds rounded up and ready to go so we can leave."

He blinked a few times, then his eyes hardened with determination and anger. "Right. Where will we meet you?" I told him to bring all of them to a gate east of the palace where I would have the convoy waiting. Then we split up. I ran outside to where Frederick was placing the final boxes on the last wagon.

My urgency caught his attention. "What is wrong, tactician?"

"We need to get all of these to the gate," I said, "and we need to leave now. I'll explain more once we're on the road." He was reluctant, but I didn't give him the chance to waste more time. I gave him a shove, barking, "Get going!" He shot a glare my way, but relented. I helped him with the final two boxes and we moved all of the wagons to the rendezvous point with the help of a few stable boys.

Chrom arrived only a minute later with all of the Shepherds in tow. "Everybody is ready?" I asked, and the prince nodded.

"Yeah, their all good to go." Okay. Things were going well, all things considered. They all loaded up into wagons and we were gone in less than half an hour. I wished we could have taken more time and said proper goodbyes. It was rushed. Far too rushed, and that left way too many opportunities for error, but we didn't have much of a choice. It was either rush now or later, and right now, the stakes weren't as high as they would be once we were on the move.

This was war, wasn't it? This chaotic switch between sacrifice and adapt. I knew that my decisions coming up would be more important and have more sway than ever before. I had prepared for that. But if they were going to be this sudden and unexpected… Up until now, my thoughts on war were that is was just a large-scale battle with more pieces and more decisions to be made.

But I could already tell that this would not be the case. There were more elements in play than I had accounted for. Basilio had warned me, and I had listened, but I didn't really _listen_. I didn't like this. This put a strange feeling in my chest that accelerated my breathing and made it hard to focus.

I was not ready for war.

 **Robert POV:**

After two days of travel, we stopped at a town on the outskirts of the desert. We restocked and decided to rest overnight. Unlike the night before, however, we actually decided to set our tents up so we were able to sleep somewhere besides the cramped confines of our convoy.

I slumped onto my bed roll with a sigh, happy to lay down on the more comfortable ground. The earth was very smooth here, so it was actually decent to sleep on. Sleep came easier now, and I was quick to doze.

My sleep was interrupted before it began by the winged visage of Dylan standing in the entrance to my tent, saying, "New guy, get up."

"What?" I was surprised to wake up to his brusque tone. I sat up and looked into his odd eyes. They seemed to swirled like the ocean whose colour they shared the longer I looked into them, but I held my gaze. "Why?"

"We're having a meeting. Come on." Short and sweet. With that, he ducked out of my tent, his silhouette fading as he walked off.

I groaned and crawled out of my tent. The guy really liked to make himself appear serious. It was kind of hard to take him that way when a pair of wings was attached to him.

Regardless, I followed his retreating form into town. He glanced back once to make sure I was following once we had passed from view of the camp. I looked back, too. It looked like everyone else was still asleep. What kind of meeting was this? Whatever it was, Dylan apparently wanted it to be kept secret.

He led me to an inn, and we went into a room on the second floor. When we stepped inside, I saw Emile and a scantily clad girl waiting inside. The girl was dressed oddly, of course, though she looked familiar. After a second of thought, I realized that she was the dark mage, Krystal. She wilted under my gaze, so I looked away.

"Take a seat," Emile said, gesturing to a chair. He and Krystal were sitting on the bed, and there was desk with a chair over to the side. I sat down and watched as Dylan came in and shut the door.

"Did anyone see you?" he asked, and I felt more suspicious of this. Were they hiding something.

"No, I don't think so."

"Good." The laguz stared at me for a moment, then said, "We aren't doing anything wrong here." Ah, he must have picked up on my suspicion. Granted, I wasn't hiding it. "We're just here to talk as people from Earth and discuss our actions going forward, which as you know, would complicate things if it reached the ears of the Shepherds." My mouth made an 'o' shape as understanding dawned. They were having secret meetings! That was cool as fuck! "So we have to find private places to talk about this stuff. If they saw us sneaking off like this…"

"They would get suspicious," I said, and nodded. "Right."

"Alright," the laguz said, clapping his hands. His tone of voice shifted to a friendlier tone, his eyes brightening. "First thing on the plate: proper introductions. We've spoken, but I don't believe you've had a conversation with either of these two." He gestured to Emile and Krystal. Gods, the shift between his displayed persona to the one he had behind closed doors was stunning.

"Yeah, well, I'm Rob," I said, waving. I gave the two of them a smile. "And you are…?"

"Emile," the lancer said, nodding.

"Krystal," the dark mage murmured, keeping her eyes to the floor while she confirmed my guess.

"Where did you get dropped?" Dylan asked. Dropped? Oh, he meant where did I land in this world. Got it.

"Eastern Yllise," I said. "I woke up by this really tall mountain. It took me a while to get to Yllistol, and I had to ask directions from several towns. I didn't even realize I wasn't on Earth until I made it to the first town, either. Where were all of you dropped?"

"Ferox," they all answered at the same time, and I blinked.

"Jeez, all of you?" Emile nodded. "Wow. Did they all find you at the same time?"

A few glances exchanged between the three of them, and Dylan answered. "It was pretty close. I helped them at the Farfort, Krystal was in their dungeon." I shot a surprised look at her, and she gave a tentative nod. "Emile fought against us in the Ferox tournament."

"So we got all kinds of different scenarios," I said. "I like it. So you were the first to join the Shepherds, then, Dylan?"

The laguz shook his head. "No, Zach was. He joined up with them at Southtown. He was the one that convinced Chrom to let me join."

"He got Robin to let me join," Emile said.

Krystal piped in, "And he got me out of the dungeon."

"So he's been with the Shepherds with the beginning." It was hard to believe that, oddly enough. Though it made some degree of sense. He was close to our amnesiac tactician, after all. Closer than any of us were to any of the other Shepherds, so him being with them for longer was a solid explanation. "Where is he, anyway?" I asked Dylan. Prior to them saying all this about Zach, I would have thought the laguz to be the ringleader of this little Earth band. "Since he got you all together, I'd figure he would be the one to organize this little meeting."

"Emile, do you want to explain it?"

"Sure," the lancer said, and cleared his throat. Why did I get the feeling that this would be a lengthy explanation? "Have you heard about Dawn yet?" I nodded. "Okay, well we saw her for the first time when Maribelle was captured. She dississisispipeared—sorry, disappeared during the fight. Afterward, Zach had started to act weird."

"That makes sense," I said, starting to piece some of the story together. "Zach said she'd almost killed him twice now when I asked about her." The statement sent a confused look between the three of them, and Emile blinked.

"That's news to me, but you're right. It does make sense. He started to act weird, and that was when he started really hanging around Robin. We ended up asking her about it, but she said that it wasn't her place to give up that kind of information. That's irrevelevant…" Emile closed his eyes for a moment, then let out a slow breath. "Irrelevant, sorry. During that time, we practically didn't see him for several days. We had a few meetings over that time and decided to ask him about it. We never got the chance, since the assassination attempt kind of interrupted things. He saved my life by bringing me to a healer." I nodded. I remembered that.

"Now what we're doing here involves secrets that could potential change the future. We could have stopped Maribelle from being captured, or stopped the assassination attempt altogether with our knowledge. If that got out, we and anyone connected with us could get into some serious shit with the law. Hell, the reason Dylan called you here to meet with us was so we could discuss the actions to take during the exalt's execution in two weeks. That's borderline treason.

"And Krystal and I, we owe Zach some pretty heavy debts. The least we could do is keep him out of our mess. Dylan agreed, and we decided it would be best to exclude him from our meetings. This way, if we get found out, Zach isn't caught up with our charges."

"I get what you're all saying," I said. I was right. That was a pretty long explanation. "That's very chivalrous of you three. Especially you, Dylan. From what I've heard, you don't owe him all that much. Is this all coming from the goodness of your heart?"

"I suppose that is one way to think of it," the laguz smirked. "But coming from the goodness of my heart? I don't think so. I was the one they had to convince from using his uh, his sway in the Shepherds for our purposes."

"Now that makes it sound more nefarious," I said, a smirk of my own appearing. "But I think I know what 'sway' you're talking about." My grin grew wide as I asked, "You think he's fuckin' Robin, don't you?"

Dylan's expression mimicked mine, and Emile burst out laughing. I looked at Krystal to see her turn away, blushing furiously. "I'd say it's certainly a possibility," the laguz said. "However close they are, we don't know. We haven't talked to him very much in the past few days. But they are close, and being friendly with the tactician had its perks. I'm not saying they're fucking, but if they are, and Zach's good enough in the sheets, then he could practically have Robin do whatever he wants."

I struggled to hold back my own laughter now, and a low chuckle escaped him. "I do hope you're kidding," I said.

"Of course. But it would make for a powerful ally nonetheless. Yet these two managed to keep me from that idea. I don't remember exactly what they said, but I agreed. After all," his chuckling died and his expression took a sinister turn. "This idea has its perks after all."

"Oh?" I asked, my curiosity perked again. "Like what?"

"If he isn't directly associated with us, but still on our side, like I assume he is, then we have someone on the inside. He may not be close enough yet, but when he and Robin spend this much time together, it's only a matter of time before she starts consulting him for tactics and other things, you know?"

I nodded, and a quick survey of the room saw that this was news to Emile and Krystal. Their stunned expressions overpowered their laughter and embarrassment from moments before. Where this was going, I didn't know. The darkness in his eyes startled even me, though.

"With someone on the inside, we could make decisions in secret and implement them into Robin's plans. We could hold control behind the scenes." His villainous smile dropped when he saw us all looking at him, disappearing with a casual shrug. "I'm just saying, it's a good idea."

"P-perhaps we should get to the real issue at hand," Krystal squeaks. I quirked an eyebrow and looked back to Dylan.

"Right, right. I'll get straight to the point, then." The laguz looked me dead in the eyes again, his gaze intense. "Rob, would you be interested in helping us?"

I grinned. "Is this one of those things were if I say no, you'll kill me because I know all of your secrets?"

"No," Dylan said, sharing my grin. All malevolence was gone from his face, replaced with mischief. "The Shepherds would find it strange if you disappeared and left all of your stuff behind." He winked, and stuck his hand out. "You in?"

I had never been one to miss an opportunity, and I saw something for me to gain from this. "I'm in."

The laguz gripped my hand and shook it with fervor. "Good. Looks like we have a new man on the inside."

After that, we left the inn. Emile thanked the innkeeper and slipped him a few extra coins. Dylan suggested we all return at separate times to seem less conspicuous, and sent Krystal back first, since she and Emile were the first to leave the camp. Then he left, and I waited for what felt like ten minutes before making my own way back.

Before I left the town behind, however, I thought I saw a silhouette slinking away between two houses. I was tempted to follow them, but thought it better to get some sleep before the march tomorrow. I wasn't about to squander a chance for sleep.

 **Ω:**

Morning came too quickly. I was not looking forward to the long march, or the combat that inevitably awaited us. I wasn't sure if I wanted the fight to be tomorrow or today, because I was tired today, but putting it off until tomorrow would mean sleeping in the desert and fighting after that. Conflicting thoughts, these.

But marching through the desert was just as miserable as I'd expected. I wanted so badly to take off my shirt, but wearing armour and chainmail complicated that. A few lucky members of our party found solutions to their suffering. Namely Dylan and Sumia, who took to the skies while the rest of us trudged over the burning sand. Krystal had the advantage in terms of clothing for once, as her outfit was light and airy. I had a feeling that that advantage would change when the wind picked up and started flinging sand at us.

The cavaliers ended up walking their horses. The heat was proving too much for them, and riding them would likely bring their end. So in order to preserve their mounts, Sully, Stahl, Frederick, and Maribelle walked them by the reins.

There was nothing of note for miles upon miles. It was just sand. Light danced across the surface of the desert like it did on the road on a hot day, teasing water that wasn't there. There were no clouds in the sky, so the sun beat down on us without mercy or relent.

Even though my throat burned and my lips dried, I was sparing in my use of water. I didn't know how far the first oasis was, so I had to save it for when I really needed it.

I trusted Robin and her plans. I knew she was a tactical genius, and she knew what she was doing. But this heat muddled my mind, and I began to doubt the logic of this route. We couldn't see anything except for sand! There was no oasis. We were going to die because that damned tactician led us the wrong way.

But maybe it wasn't her fault. Maybe the maps were wrong. Maybe they were outdated. I didn't know. I was just getting agitated and upset. I was not having fun at all.

"Fuck deserts." I thought I'd said it at first, as it mirrored my current thoughts to the word. But the words didn't come from my mouth, as my throat hurt too much for me to not notice. I looked to the source of the voice to see Zach marching with narrowed, dark eyes and a scowl. "Fuck this sandy bullshit. Whoever the dumbass was that thought this stupid fuckin' place was a good idea deserves to get fucking stabbed.

"Dude, fuck the sun." He raised both middle fingers toward the celestial ball of fire and said, "You're a stupid bitch. Fuck you!"

"Shut up," a voice called from the back of the column, and Zach spun around. Someone was apparently sick of his complaining, which I understood. Even though I shared the sentiment, it was getting annoying. We were all hot and miserable.

"Fuck you, fight me!" Zach barked, but was cut off from saying anything else by the descending form of Dylan.

The laguz landed with a smile, saying, "I see the oasis."

Our sweet sanctuary wasn't too far away. Dylan spotted it when we were only two tall dunes away. The oasis was of decent size, about that of a small lake. A township of a dozen houses surrounded it, and we could see people milling about the trees that grew there.

When we arrived, we had to keep from throwing ourselves into its pristine aquatic glory. Chrom and Robin greeted the townspeople and asked them if it was alright to rest here while the rest of us filled our waterskins and splashed water on ourselves.

All of us earthlings were sitting down together in a circle. I knew there was a cheeky grin on my face when I asked Zach, "So what was that about the sun being a stupid bitch?"

The myrmidon shook his head, taking a sip from his waterskin. "Man, the heat just gets to me. It sets me off."

"I could tell," Emile chuckled. "Who were you going to fight, anyway?"

Zach looked around, brow furrowing. I did as well. All of the Shepherds had sat down to rest, with many taking off their armour. I saw Robin and Chrom standing over a small table they had moved outside, examining a map. My grin grew, and I looked back at Emile, catching his attention with a whistle. I jerked my chin toward the tactician, and he followed my gaze. I noticed how he hid his grin, taking a drink.

"I don't really know," Zach finally answered. "I think it was Sully, though."

"Hmm." Emile cleared his throat and closed his waterskin before flashing a quick look at me. "So how are things going with your girlfriend?"

"I'm sorry?" Zach asked, and I heard Dylan snicker.

"You know, Robin." Emile's face was plastered with a shit-eating grin. "How are things going? I noticed you're not sitting with her. Did something happen?"

"Oh, I see," Zach said, nodding. "I get it. Just because we spend a lot of time together, you think we're dating."

"Nah," I said, deciding to join in. "We think you're fucking."

Emile and Dylan started laughing again, and a blush started to colour Zach's face. "Oh you think that shit's funny?" he asked, his tone and smiling betraying his words. "Well I personally think it's kind of odd how much time you and Dylan are spending together, Emile. You're awfully close to each other now, too." He gestured to the two of them and the fact that they were sitting fairly close to one another. They scooted further apart, bringing a fit of laughter out of me.

"Wait, why am I being pulled into this?" Dylan asked, arcing an eyebrow. I liked where this banter was going. I looked at Krystal to see her blushing furiously like she had last night.

"I'm not the one sneaking out of the castle to bring Robin on a date late at night," Emile retorted, and I instinctively looked back to Zach, waiting for his reaction. He was bringing the tactician on dates? Now that all but confirmed it, didn't it?

Zach looked away for a moment, then pointed his waterskin at Emile and said, "You watch your mouth or I'm going to fight you, next."

"You really want me to beat your ass again?" Emile asked, resting his hand on his knee. The words being exchanged were tampered down by the grins and laughs shared by the two, so the situation remained calm and casual. I was thankful for that. I didn't want to have to break apart any fights.

Zach's smile changed from one of humour to one of mischief, and something flickered in his eyes. None of us were ready for what he was about to say, and it was foolish of Krystal to start taking a drink.

"Yes, daddy."

Krystal spit out her water as soon as the words left Zach's mouth. I fell back, laughing too hard to keep myself in a sitting position. Dylan couldn't help himself, either, clutching his gut as laughter seized him. I imagined the scene we were creating, but I didn't care. This was beautiful.

When Emile composed himself after his face flushed as red as a strawberry, he said, "What would Robin think of that?"

Zach chuckled. "What would Dylan think?"

I, having just sat back up, fell down again. My stomach hurt so bad from laughing, and it was difficult to breathe. I was unable to stop myself, however, as a look at Dylan and Emile's shocked faces wrought more laughter from me.

"Wha-wait, hey!" Dylan spluttered, trying to salvage this situation. Zach lifted his waterskin to take a drink , but got up and walked over to refill it.

"You just got fuckin' destroyed," I said between laughs. Krystal picked up her waterskin and cloak, clutching both to her chest as she hurried away. She was still blushing like mad. Maybe this just wasn't her kind of humour.

"That backfired," Emile muttered, his head hanging in shame.

Dylan was still in shock. He looked wildly between us, searching for answers. "Why the hell was I dragged into this?" I shrugged and took a long drink.

Suddenly, a high pitched scream tore through the air. Faster than you could blink, every single Shepherd was on their feet, weapons in hand. A look of confusion passed between us, before our eyes landed on Dylan. He nodded, taking to the air with a single, powerful flap that blew sand up in a cloud.

While he scanned the area, all of the other Shepherds rushed toward us, waiting for the laguz's report. We were spread out enough to give him a wide spot to land in, and when he did, he said, "There's a young girl under attack just south of here." Based on where we were, I had a pretty good idea of who this 'young' girl was.

Robin thought for a moment, the rest of us waiting in anticipation for her plan. I could see the gears turning as her hands stroked her chin. "Everyone on horses or in full armour stay here. Get as much rest as you can before we head out next. Everyone else, let's go." As the tactician commanded, everybody except for Sully, Stahl, Frederick, Maribelle, and Kellam left the shade of the oasis.

My suspicions were confirmed when we arrived on the battlefield. The battlefield itself was dominated by a massive reptilian skeleton half-buried under the sand. Its ribs and skull poked out of the dunes, a menacing eminence that granted an opportunity for cover and high ground. Running past the skull was a little girl, who was in turn being followed by a grown man.

"Get away!" the girl cried, hugging her arms to her chest as she ran not only from the man, but from an oncoming wave of soldiers and mages. "Leave me alone!"

"Oi, girl!" cried the man, his voice tinged with something of a stereotypical Russian accent. "Gregor is not bad man! Gregor save you from real bad men."

My eyesight was lacking, but as we drew closer, I saw that the man had reddish hair and a sword, while the girl had greenish-blonde hair that flowed to her waist. I also saw someone running closer, their sword drawn and raised to strike at the man.

"Robert," Robin said, "go with Cordelia and help that girl. Ricken, head with them." All three of us nodded in affirmation, and we set off. I heard the tactician barking out orders for the others, but blocked it out as my attention focused on the conflict just ahead of us.

The red haired man drew his sword in a flash and intercepted the incoming attack, before kicking his assailant away. The girl shrieked at the ring of steel on steel, falling back. The clashes didn't end there as another soldier ran forward, engaging the red-haired man. In a two-on-one fight, he was quickly growing tired. I put more speed in my step. A third enemy appeared from behind the other two, a drawn bow in his hand. Realizing that the man couldn't protect her from this one, the girl sobbed, but stood up.

"Get away," she cried, then something gleamed. I did my best to slow myself, though found that hard in the loose sand. I ended up slipping and falling, but stopped myself at a safe distance from what I knew was about to happen.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Her voice took an angry shift, resounding over the sound of metal hitting metal. Then, a sound that could not be compared to anything else came from her as a flower sprung from the ground, enveloping the girl.

It dispersed with a gust of wind so powerful that it knocked the three men fighting down, as well as the archer that was prepared to shoot her. Sand flew into the air, away from where a green and yellow dragon spiraled into the air. I heard Cordy gasp behind me, and imagined the dumbstruck look on Ricken's face. "What is that?" the Pegasus knight breathed.

"A manakete," I answered with a smile.

The dragon levelled its gaze at the four men in front of her and reared her head back. Realizing that she hadn't distinguished the red-haired man from the enemy, I yelled, "Gregor, move!"

He saw the dragon behind him and rolled out of the way with the practice of a trained warrior. His evasion was executed just in time, too, as the dragon let loose a blast of icy-blue fire that exploded on the three soldiers, decimating them.

What sand wasn't blown out of the way was turned to glass, and the soldiers were turned into smoking corpses.

Realizing she'd missed one, the dragon turned to blast the red-haired man. "Wait! Wait," he cried, dropping his sword and holding his hands in the air. "Gregor helped you escape! Gregor defend you from bad men!"

The dragon judged him silently for a second, then disappeared as she was once more concealed in the giant flower. The girl came out this time, breathing a hefty sigh. "Good thing you spoke up," she said. "Otherwise you would have turned to dust just like those guys!"

I scrambled to my feet and ran over, waving for Cordelia and Ricken to follow me. Behind us, Sumia was flying over the tail end of the giant skeleton, where I was pretty sure a village lay, and the others were finishing dealing with some soldiers that had somehow gotten between us.

"That was close," I said when I got close, scaring the girl. In her hand was a blue stone, which she held defensively. "Whoa, whoa, relax." I held up my hands. "We're friends. I'm with those guys over there." I jerked my thumb back at the other Shepherds.

"You saved Gregor's life," the man said, shooting me a wide grin.

"You're Gregor?" I asked, already knowing the answer. The merc nodded, and I returned it. "I'm Robert. What's your name, girl?"

"Nowi," the little manakete replied, grinning.

"This is Cordelia," I said, pointing at the Pegasus knight, and then to the young mage beside her. "And that's Ricken." The mage waved, but Cordelia just fastened her grip on her lance.

"There's time for introductions later," she said, nodding toward the quickly advancing enemy. "We've got bigger things to deal with."

"Robert," Robin called, running up from behind us with Robin, Chrom, and Lissa flanking her. High in the sky, Dylan soared overhead, Emile riding atop him. The lancer gave us a wave, before tightening his grip on the laguz's feathers. Dylan took a big dive, swooping low and dropping Emile over a far dune. If I remembered correctly, there was another village down that way.

"Sumia reported two villages aside from the one she visited. There is one where Dylan and Emile went, and then another over that way." The tactician pointed southeast, past the enemy line and over the head of the skeleton. "Can you get over there and tell them to close up until the combat is over?"

"Of course. Let's go." As the three of us ran off, I shot a wink at Zach, then flicked my eyes toward Robin so he caught my meaning. "Ricken, keep to the back. Cover us if we miss anybody. Got it?"

"Yep," the mage confirmed.

"Alright. Cordelia, we have the front." Then a troublesome thought occurred. "Are you really good to fight?"

"Yes, I've recovered well. I can fight."

"I hope you're right," I said. Though I wanted to believe her, I knew she was the type to take pain so others didn't have to. An admirable quality to be sure, but it could lead to dangerous consequences. "Just don't push yourself too hard."

"Likewise."

 **Emile POV:**

It was something else being dropped like that. I was like one of those orbital strike missiles or whatnot. We just confirmed our target, and Dylan let me loose like a missile.

I landed spear-first on the first enemy—he looked like a fighter from the air. It turned out that sand had its advantages. When my killer lance—a parting gift from Basilio—pierced completely through him and embedded in the ground, the only resistance when pulling it free was from the fighter's body.

His friends, stunned by my divebombing stunt, shook off their disbelief and rushed at their comrade's killer. The pair of them, a dark mage and another axe wielder, used basic tactics to attempt fighting me. The fighter—actually, the skull on his head probably meant he was a barbarian, got in close, swinging wildly to keep me at bay while the dark mage stood back, shooting Flux at me from afar.

All it took to disrupt this rhythm of their was for me to hook my lance around the barbarian's axe and spin him around. I positioned him in the magic circle of his ally's Flux spell, and the pillars shot through him.

I didn't like watching dark magic. When it hit, it either knocked you away, or, like with the case of the guy here, pierced your body. But it didn't leave bleeding, physical wounds. Instead, it seemed to drain the life from their targets, through whatever form it took. In this case, the colour and life left the barbarian, flushing to the dark pillars sticking through his corpse.

My face scrunched up in disgust, and I whirled around. The dark mage didn't have the chance to launch a second spell. I threw my spear forward, and it spiraled once before impaling the dark mage. He crumpled to his knees, his tome dropping onto the sand as he tried to pulled my lance from his gut to no avail. All he managed to do was bloody his hands.

The heat made me irritable. Propping my foot against his slumped, lifeless body, I pried my lance free and made my way to the village, where one last barbarian stood, knocking against its gate.

I was sweating heavily at this point. I could only imagine how the others were doing, having to run all this way when I had received a first-class air-drop. My breathing was still fairly steady, but that wasn't going to last long.

"Hey!" I yelled, catching the barbarian's attention. He saw me and dislodged his axe from where he'd swung it at the gate. He let out a feral snarl upon seeing his dead allies and charged me. In response, I spun my lance around, a flashy show that ended with me catching the pole under my arm, with the blade pointed toward my foe.

The weapon triangle didn't seem to favour me today. The barbarian let out a fearsome yell and swung with all of his might. He swung at an angle, cutting off my options of evasion, so I was forced to block the hit. The impact shook me, sending a jarring pain through my bones. I pushed him off and made a quick jab, but this guy was quick.

He grabbed the shaft of my weapon and yanked me closer, into his incoming fist. His hit landed, sending me reeling. He grinned, thinking this meant he had the upper hand. I wiped the blood from my split lip and waited for him to come closer again.

"Come on, asshole," I growled, getting low. If things went according to plan, he would swing at that same angle, and I would duck under, rolling low and wrapping my lance around his legs to sweep his feet. After that, it was like shooting fish in a barrel.

Or at least, it would have been. A certain grey-haired Pegasus knight and blue-haired archer had a different idea. The barbarian was shot dead as Virion let loose a rain of arrows from atop Sumia's Pegasus. I stood up and gave them a friendly wave. They reciprocated and flew off, leaving me to talk to this village.

I wasn't sure how classes worked in this, or how promotion would work, so I was really curious of what we were going to do with the Master Seal I was about to receive.

 **Robert POV:**

"Now, Ricken!" Cordelia and I split, leaving an opening for the mage to shoot a blade of wind at a myrmidon that was giving us trouble. We had already dealt with a cavalier, whose horse's hooves had trouble gaining traction on the loose terrain, and a fighter, who fell with ease to my blade. This myrmidon was quick, however, and managed to hold off attacks from Cordelia and I at the same time.

He fell in one shot of Elwind, the blade of wind severing him. Magic was brutal as fuck in real life, and Ricken realized it just as well as I did. This kid was fucking metal, but he was still just that.

"Nice job, kid," I supported, giving him a thumbs up and a smile before swiping the dead myrmidon's blade. It was a curved, katana-like killing edge, and I figured our other myrmidon should have one, too. I took it and the sheath, then handed them to Ricken. "Hold this for me. Keep us covered, we're going in." He nodded, his eyes never going near the halved body behind me.

Cordelia and I ran forward until we were inside the skeleton, keeping cover in the massive ribcage of whatever beast was felled here. The Pegasus knight peered around the corner, then hid again. "What is it?" I asked.

"Two dark mages are closest, then another fighter closer to the skull." She looked at me, holding her lance tight to her chest. Her face was flushed from exertion, sweat making her soft face glisten. "Easy."

"Easy," I agreed. I was sweating up a storm of my own. Running and fighting in the desert heat made marching seem like a walk through the park. This was utter hell, but we were almost done. "Let's go."

Cordelia, even on foot, was fast and skilled. Even without the weapon advantage, I was confident that she could whoop my ass. She twirled her spear beautifully, like it was a dance that ended with the blade slicing clean through her unsuspecting foe's neck.

My own approach was clumsier and less practiced, but it worked nonetheless. I ran forward and jumped at the dark mage with my sword held in a reverse-grip, stabbing through his back as I brought him to the ground. I gave him a second stab for good measure, then stood up and let out a sigh. On second thought, this bombastic approach was not ideal in the sweltering sun. Maybe a more conservative method was better.

The fighter noticed the commotion and did something I wasn't expecting. He froze, then dropped his weapon and ran. I exchanged a look with Cordelia, and she shrugged. "Come on, man," I growled. "You're really making me work for this."

Sure, I could have let him go, but he was Grimleal. He was going to be a pain in our ass eventually, so I may as well nip him at the bud while I could. Therefore, I gave chase. He wasn't very fast, despite how little he wore and the fear driving him.

I caught up in no time and cut him down, but not before another dark mage noticed me. I didn't have time to remove my sword from the fighter's body, and had to roll out of the way of a Flux spell.

Fuck. He moved to the side, cutting me off from my sword with more Flux shots until he stood between me and my weapon. How was I going to get myself out of this? I took a chance look to the sky, hoping that Dylan or Sumia was flying about. My heart skipped a beat when the bird laguz was in fact flying not far from me, but I was disappointed when I saw him narrowly avoid an arrow. No help from him, and that archer was going to keep any fliers from coming near me.

Well, this wouldn't be the first time I had to beat the shit out of someone with my fists. Just because he had a fancy magic book wouldn't mean he was going to stop me.

An unarmed man charging him was probably the last thing he expected. Regardless, I collided with the mage before he could fire off another charge of Flux. When we hit the ground, I smacked his tome away and proceeded to slam my fists against his face. After the third or fourth punch, I rolled off of him and snatched up my sword. He was probably unconscious, and gave no resistance as I drove my blade through his chest.

I figured I may as well take care of the archer, too, so I turned to go after him and saw that Robin and Chrom were already there. This battle was going to be over soon, then.

I made my way back to where I last saw Cordelia, and saw her at the village. I walked up when her and an old man were just finishing a conversation. The man handed her something, and she thanked him with a bright smile.

"Thank you so much, sir," she said. "This will certainly come in handy."

The man nodded and hobbled his way back inside the gates of the village before they creaked shut.

"Who was that?" I asked, sheathing my sword.

"The village elder," Cordelia said, preparing to draw her lance again.

"Don't bother," I said, and she lowered her hand. "This battle is going to be over in a minute." I noticed her cradling whatever the man had given her. "What's that?"

"Something the elder gave me." She opened her hands to reveal a small blue sphere encircled by a cage-like metal ring of the same colour. It seemed to radiate a soft light. "He said it could be used by someone with enough experience to start a new life. I am not sure what he meant by that, but it looks magical."

"I've heard of something like that," I said, and Cordelia cocked her head, intrigued. "I think it is meant to unlock secret potential in somebody and allow them to learn new skills."

"Really?" the Pegasus knight asked, eyes lighting up. I nodded, and she smiled. "Then I'm sure it will come to be quite useful later on."

"WHO THE FUCK THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO FIGHT IN A DESERT?!"

A familiar voice rang clear through the newfound silence. "I think that means the battle is over," I said with a grin.

Cordelia nodded, chuckling. "I think you might be right."

 **AN: Hey, guess who's back? That's right, it's ya boy. It's been awhile, but I hope the extra long chapter makes up for it. Plus, I kind of warned you guys.**

 **I actually had a lot of fun writing this chapter. It pretty much consumed all of my free time this weekend, though. I hope you enjoy the friendly banter between the OCs, too. That was kind of fun to write, as well as they little OC secret society part.**

 **Also, isn't it funny how I manage to make Zach the main subject even when he isn't in the scene? Haha, wow, I swear I didn't plan it that way, and it won't be a staple. I'm working on it.**

 **I was planning on doing a Valentine's chapter, too, like I did with the Christmas one. It probably won't happen though, as I don't know how to write it without spoiling all of the pairings. And I really don't want to spoil ALL of the pairings.**

 **As for the writing program, I got everything submitted on time. Unfortunately, I won't know if I was accepted until late March, so there's that. Pray for ya boy, or whatever y'all do. Wish me luck. Thanks.**

 **All of the Oats have left the building.**


	16. Chapter 15: A Dash of Darkness

**I trusted you, Nintendo. I trusted you to rise so my stocks would too, but you failed me when I needed you most. Needless to say, I don't own Fire Emblem. That right belongs to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.**

 **Valentine's Day is tomorrow, isn't it?**

 **Krystal POV:**

Zach woke up with a groan. "Where…?"

We were in a large tent that had been packed for medical needs, but seeing as we hadn't had anything major, this was the first time it had seen use. Still, his wound wasn't major. It could hardly be called a wound. He looked around, taking in the canvas walls before his eyes settled on me sitting off to the side next to the burning lantern. "You're in the medical tent," I said.

He gave me a curious look, so I tapped by my left eye. He mimicked me, then flinched when his fingers touched the sensitive skin around his eye. A moment of worry flickered across his face.

"It's just a black eye," I said, hoping to ease his concerns. I had to smile when I included, "Sully knocked you out. Something about you being obnoxious and annoying?"

He nodded, pushing the thin blanket off of himself and standing up. "That sounds about right. Gods, it's cold." He wasn't wrong. Deserts were frigid at night, so I had my small brown cloak pulled tight over my shoulders. Even then, it wasn't much. "Is it night?" I nodded. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours," I said, though I wasn't certain. Time was difficult to judge when you didn't have a clock or a watch. It felt like several hours had passed, though.

"Hmm." He looked around the room until he found his pack and sword, then picked them off the floor. "Are we still by that town?"

I shook my head. "No, we marched for a few hours after the battle before stopping in a dip between two hills." Chrom had wanted to keep going, eager to make it as far as possible. Robin and Lissa were able to convince him that it not only smarter, but more efficient to stop and rest early so we could go harder tomorrow. I agreed with the tactician at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Chrom's idea could work in a different way.

If we slept in the day, keeping to the shade, we wouldn't have to walk in the heat. We could wait until night, when it was colder, and move then. It would not only save water, but it would give us a chance to make the most of the shade and let the horses rest. I had thought about bringing it up to them, but decided against it. There was probably something I was overlooking, anyway.

"Krystal?" Zach asked, snapping me from my thoughts. I had been staring at the ground for quite some time. Meanwhile, he had fastened his sword to his waist and had his pack slung over his shoulder. "I asked if anyone was on guard tonight?"

"Oh, s-sorry. Yes, Vaike and Stahl are on guard. I think they are around a campfire in the middle of the camp, right now, though."

"Alright, thanks." I nodded. "What were you thinking about just now?"

"W-what?"

"Just now, when you were staring at the ground? It looked like you were thinking pretty hard on something."

"Oh, it-it was nothing. Just an idea for the march, was all."

"Oh yeah? What did you have in mind? Maybe I could bring it up to Robin." The conversation between Emile, Dylan, and Robert from a few nights ago came to mind, and I turned away before Zach could see the blush spreading across my face. He misunderstood this for a sign of embarrassment, which wasn't too far off. "C'mon, it can't be that bad. Let's hear it."

I told him of how it would be better to march at night, at he listened throughout the entirety of my explanation. He remained silent until the point where I started calling it a stupid idea and dismissing it. "No, actually it's a really good idea," he said, stroking his chin. "I'm surprised Robin didn't consider it. Or maybe she did. I don't know. I'll check with her sometime. But hey, you may have just saved us a lot of suffering. Nice job."

He moved to walk out of the tent, then paused when his hand brushed the flap, letting in a wisp of cold air. "Gods, I do talk about Robin a lot, don't I?" I didn't give him an answer, but he still shook his head and sighed. "Jeez," was all he said before leaving. The little warmth offered by my brown cloak was blown away, literally, by the cold air let in by Zach's departure.

Now what was I going to do?

The tent was clear of "injured" now, so I really had no reason to remain. I plucked the lantern off the ground—it wasn't the loose sand anymore. The deeper we came into the desert, the firmer the terrain grew. We had stopped to rest on ground that felt more rock-like than anything else. But then, sand was just little grains of rocks, wasn't it?

I left the tent and walked outside. The chill hit me suddenly, and I hurried to get back to my tent. The sky was cloudless, and the stars were flecks of lights across a dark expanse while the moon reflected the iridescence of the sun.

I couldn't pick out any constellations, for I didn't know any by heart, but it was still a sight to see. I couldn't remember the last time I had a good look at the stars like this. Back home, the lights of the city made it hard to see them. Here, though, there was no such barrier. Everything was clear, natural. Eye-opening.

There was no reason for me to have the lantern still burning, I realized. The moon gave off enough light as it was, but Stahl and Vaike's fire was still burning and crackling in the center of camp. I briefly wondered if they were even doing their guard duty, but figured it didn't matter that much. We were far from any town or civilization. Plus, we had a taguel with super hearing and a manakete with a great sense of smell, so we were covered.

Or maybe not, I realized, as a shadowy figure crept along the top of one of the hills. I froze, patting a hand to my waist and thigh, where my Flux tome usually hung, as the figure ducked down behind the ridge. I looked around and ducked into the nearest tent, unconcerned as to whom it belonged to.

On one hand, I got lucky, because I slipped into Chrom's tent. That meant I could warn him of the figure that was on the hill. On the other hand, a sleepy Chrom in the midst of slipping into his bedroll just saw me slip into his tent unannounced. At least I wasn't armed. Or naked.

I was paralyzed in embarrassment, blood rushing to my face and turning it cherry red. I clamped my mouth shut when I realized that it was hanging open, and looked away when I realized I was staring. He was fully clothed and I had no reason to stare, but my befuddled mind didn't know what it was doing.

"Krystal?" he asked, beginning to stand. "What are you doing in here?"

"U-um…" I had to dig through my memories, the figure on the hill having been buried beneath a wave of flustered thoughts. Finding my voice, I finally said, "I-I saw someone up on the hill."

The prince shot to his feet. "Was it one of the Shepherds?" His face was plagued with urgency, but all I could do was flap my mouth like a fish and shrug. His mouth pressed into a firm line as he brushed past me. It took me a moment to realize that he intended for me to follow.

"Are you armed?" he asked in a low voice, pushing open the tent flap.

"N-no," I muttered. Why hadn't I brought my tome with me to the medical tent? Ah, well, at the time I never considered the possibility of an attack. But we weren't even sure if this was an attack. It could have been Stahl or Vaike…

Those thoughts died as they both slid into view, skidding to a stop in front of us. "Captain!" Stahl cried. His sword was already drawn, and Vaike had his axe slung over his shoulder. Neither of them looked happy.

"Go get your tome," Chrom told me, and I ran off to get to my tent. I noticed people poking their heads out, likely alerted by Stahl and Vaike running by. My mad sprint to get my weapon was probably enough to get their full attention.

"Krystal?" I heard the confused voice of Robin call as I ran past, and I stopped myself as fast as I could. "What's going on? Why are you running?"

I had to speak between ragged breaths. Physical strength and stamina were not my strong suit. "Person on the hill, Chrom said to grab my tome."

The tactician flicked her eyes to the hill, then muttered a curse as she looked back to me. "Where is Chrom now?" I pointed back the way I came, and she thanked me before running toward the prince. I resumed my own sprint, then ducked into my tent.

I cursed myself for not leaving the lantern burning, because I could see nothing in the darkness of my tent. At least I didn't own much, so I could feel around for my tome without taking too much time. When I finally found the damn book, I seized it and hurried to make it back to Chrom. I didn't remember this fight, and the mystery worried me greatly.

I made sure my tome was ready, just in case I was attacked on the way. When I looked back up, someone jumped at me from the side. Reflexively, I swung my hand and cast a charge of Flux.

 **Robert POV:**

I was having trouble sleeping. It wasn't the cold—though it was unpleasant, I was more accustomed to this temperature. No, the cold didn't bother me so much as these god forsaken rocks! The ground was so uncomfortable; I couldn't find a single space in my tent clear of little pebbles that dug into my back when I tried to lay down. I had to pick the worst spot in this whole area.

These problems disappeared from my mind when I heard rapid footsteps pass by my tent, like someone was running. It took a split second to register that this was not peaceful noise. A second later I was on my feet, sword in hand, head poking out of the tent flap. I took a step outside, then went to sheathe my sword. In my sleepless haze, I had forgotten to draw it in the first place.

Confused, I slipped back inside my tent, only to hear the same footsteps coming back. Waiting for them, I drew my sword without a sound and stood near the entrance to my tent. Then, just as they were about to pass, I jumped out, sword raised to strike.

A shriek, followed by a flash of red and gold met my attack, and my sword was thrown from my hand by a pillar of swirling darkness.

Less than an inch away from my face was the aftermath of a Flux charge, its golden circles fading away. Behind the blast was a pale-faced Krystal, hand outstretched in front of her. "Krystal?" I breathed, and her arm relaxed. "What the…"

"I'm so sorry!" she cried. "You scared me, and I thought you were an attacker!" I thought it better to not mention that had she not shot at me, I likely would have hurt, if not killed her instead. Then something she said caught my attention.

"Attacker? Why would there be an attacker in the camp?" Why was she running? Why was she armed and ready? She wasn't on guard duty tonight. "What's going on?"

"There was someone on the hill, and Chrom told me to grab my tome," the dark mage said, speaking in a flurry. "I think it was a—"

She was cut off as the prince's voice rang out loud and clear over the otherwise silent night. "SHEPHERDS, TO ARMS!" Krystal and I shared a glance, then I gave her a light shove.

"Get going, I'll catch up in a second." She was reluctant, but nodded, and ran ahead. I slipped back into my tent, snagged the sheathed Killing Edge that I had taken for Zach, and tied it to my belt. Then, remembering that Krystal had knocked my own away, I snatched it off the ground as I ran by it.

All of the other Shepherds were emerging from their respective tents, weapons in hand, armour haphazardly donned. It was a scramble, and perhaps Chrom could have executed the announcement better. Or sooner. Before all of us were even out of our tents, soldiers clad in black descended the hills looming over our camp.

I was saved from someone attempted to attack me from behind by a certain Feroxi myrmidon, his curved killing sword slicing through the attacker's body like paper. That was to be expected of such a fine blade. What wasn't to be expected was how the body dissipated into a purple mist. They were Risen?

"I have your back," Lon'qu grumbled. We ran side by side, after that, eyes scanning the hills and gaps between tents for anyone lying in wait for us to pass.

Where there had been silence only minutes ago, there was now the infernal din of war. Metal met metal, steel met flesh as weapons clashed and bodies fell. There were no cries of pain, which worried me more than anything. Even Risen growled.

We made it to Chrom without interruption, only to find him trapped with Stahl and Vaike. The three of them were surrounded, back-to-back as they fended off attacks from all fronts.

I growled as anger seized me, and I ran my blade through one of the attacker's back. Lon'que followed up and killed the one next to me. It took little more than that to shift the momentum of this little skirmish. Now the ambushers were surrounded, and we made quick work of the few remaining. Stahl and I stabbed, Chrom and Lon'qu slashed, and Vaike cleaved through two of them at once. Before long, the dozen was reduced to zero, their mist cast to the wind.

"Where did these guys come from?" I asked, breathless.

"Milord!" Frederick yelled, running closer alongside Viron, who had an arrow knocked and waiting. "My deepest apologies, I should have been more vigilant. If I had checked the area beforehand, I could have—"

"No time, Frederick," Chrom said, cutting the knight short. "Find anybody who needs help. When everyone is secure, we'll think of a better plan. Same goes for everyone here. Split up."

The battle wasn't done, and we all ran in different directions, as the prince directed. I had my eyes straight ahead, heading toward the sounds of a separate combat, when a shadow flew overhead. I looked up to see Dylan circling over the camp, his body casting an imposing silhouette. He began to circle back around when something flew through the air, embedding itself in his feathered body. He let out a pained screech, then flew higher.

 _Archers!_ They had archers. "Dammit," I cursed, and pressed to go faster. Who were these guys? This wasn't in the game, so I had no idea what to expect. A break from my thoughts in the form of a shadow bursting from cover appeared, a flash of silver in the moonlight warning me to raise my sword. I blocked the incoming strike, then retaliated with a horizontal slash that forced my attacker away.

Poised in a ready stance, the attacker was dressed in all black. It had a hooded cowl that paired with a face-mask to shroud most of its face. Everything was covered except for its glowing red eyes and the pale skin around them. Everything about it was silent, too. There were no groans or growls typical of these undead warriors, and the purple mist coming from its mask with every breath was nonexistent. In fact, these didn't seem to breathe at all, which, while making sense for an undead, was unnerving. Even Risen breathed.

It held my gaze for a time, but I saw from my peripherals its hands shift on the grip of its sword. Its sword was odd, as well. Unlike the straight edged blades that everybody else in the game used, this Risen's sword had a curved edge, like a scimitar or a falchion.

I didn't have the time to analyze my opponent further, as it lunged forward with a swift skyward slash. I parried it with my own sword, knocking their attack away. But Gods, was it fast.

As fast as I could recover from the deflection, the Risen spun around, locking blades with me again. It attacked like that multiple times in succession. Spin, slash, spin, slash, spin, slash. Each time, the attack was angled a different way, and I had to adapt my own stance to deal with this peculiar offense. Whatever it was doing worked, as I was being pushed back steadily. But there was nothing I could do. Its attacks were relentless, and it showed no signs of fatigue or slowing. All I could do was block each attack and pray for it to make an error. Though with each attack, that hope diminished.

My arms were growing tired. At this rate, there was nothing I could do to get away unscathed. It was risky, but each time it spun, there was a slight opening where I could push forward instead of swinging. If I did, there was a high chance—no, there was no chance. If I did this, I was going to get hit. But it was either this, or wait and hope. Hope for someone to show up and stop this onslaught before my arms gave out or hope for a swift death at this machine's cold, dead hands. Neither of those were favourable.

So I pushed at the Risen. It was spinning counter-clockwise, so when I moved forward, its sword dug into my left shoulder. But I broke the cycle, my own blade pressing down on the Risen's arms. I moved up and put all of my weight on its sword hand until the weapon fell from its grip, then I kicked it away. Unarmed, the Risen had no defence as I stabbed it through the chest.

A single puff of purple mist filtered through its face mask, and the glow from its red eyes faded away as the body turned to smoke. I flopped to the side before struggling to push myself up. My weary arms were not aided by the blood spilling from my new wound.

I touched my hand to it, and looked. It was in an awkward spot, and out of sight. "Ah, shit," I muttered, shaking my head. It was bleeding heavily, the warm liquid slicking my arm as it traveled downward. I prayed it wasn't deep. I could still move my arm, albeit with no small degree of pain.

Growling in pain and anger, I dropped my sword and slipped my coat off. The sleeves were already horribly disfigured, so this wasn't much of a _difference_. I tore one of the sleeves with a sigh, then wrapped it tight around my arm. Hopefully, that would stem the bleeding for a time. Fuck.

I picked my sword up again and ran forward. I couldn't remember why I was running this way in the first place, but I had to have had some reason.

I was cruelly reminded by the sound of an earsplitting scream.

 **Gaius POV:**

These masked guys were weird. Like, _really_ weird. As far as I could tell, they didn't breathe, and they made no sound. Their swords were weird and curved, like long daggers, and their eyes were glowing a bright red.

And they were fast. They moved almost as fast as me, and didn't leave any openings for me to get a hit in. Every slash and stab was blocked or deflected, then I had to defend when they tried to strike back.

"Look, Stumbles," I said, hopping away from the masked guys. The gray-haired Pegasus knight kept them further away with her spear, but I wasn't sure how long that would last. She wasn't very fast, so these guys could probably get in close if they wanted to. That meant I had to watch after her. She and Blue were pretty close, so he would be pissed if I let something happen to her. Still… "We're going to need to work together if we want to take these guys down."

"Right," she said, stabbing at one of them. We were pinned against a wall, here. There was no going backwards, and going past the four red-eyes in front of us was going to be tough. "What do you have in mind?" Her question was timed with a grunt as she stabbed again.

"Umm, let me get back to you on that." One of them tried to stab at me, and I caught his sword between two of my daggers. With all of my strength, I swiped up, pulling his weapon out of his hand. "Get him!" I yelled to Stumbles, and she stabbed him through the gut.

A chill went up my back when he made no sound. Stumbles's spear was going through him, but there was no reaction. His eyes didn't even go wide. Instead, purple smoke came through his face mask, and the light coming from his peepers faded. Then he disappeared in a cloud of that same purple smoke, leaving the spear empty.

"What the hell?" I didn't have time to ask anything else. The third red-eyes swung wide, his curved sword barely missing my bangs. I leaned back and kicked out at him, then Stumbles did another stab to push him away.

But we killed one. That meant there were three left. "Let's do what we just did," I suggested, deflecting another attack with my daggers. Ugh, I wished I had grabbed my swords. By the time Blue called out, I was too far away from my tent to go back and grab it before these asses got to me and Stumbles. So I was stuck with these little things. They were barely as long as my forearm, but it was better than nothing.

"Okay," she said, nodding.

I ducked under a high swing, then slashed with both daggers at his stomach. Of course he jumped out of the way, and I had to block an attack from one of his friends. "Stumbles!" I yelled, ready to repeat what worked last time. If they kept this up, it was possible that we would get out no worse for wear!

"Coming through!" she said, following my lead. Her stab went through but this one had a different idea than his dead buddy. Before he turned into smoke, he slashed at her spear, breaking the end of inside of him. It fell to the ground when he disappeared, but left us in a losing situation still. It was even numbered, but only one of us had a weapon.

"Shit," I muttered. I had to start thinking things were on the up and up for us, didn't I? Gods. Stumbles turned her spear—well, stick, now—sideways and blocked a swing, while I had the pleasure of dealing with the other one.

I slashed and cut, trying to push him far enough away that I that I could swing back and kill the guy keeping Stumbles on the defense. But he didn't want to budge. The curve on his sword let him just sit there, and my daggers would slide off his blade. This was not fair at all.

Then I heard something snap. I looked back to see the rest of Stumbles's lance broken in half, and the red-eyes that broke it was starting his follow-up attack. Gods, Blue would kill me…

So I threw myself in front of her.

A burning pain across my chest, worse than almost anything I'd ever felt, then something pierced my ears. A scream. Stumble's screamed my name.

 **?:**

"I really wish you had let me go with them."

"No," I said. "No, I need you here."

"But I want to kill them!"

"That isn't why I sent them, and you know that."

"But what if some of them die anyway?"

"Collateral damage," I said with a dismissal wave. Their lives are of no import to me. None of the important ones were going to die to a few Risen, anyway.

"I know what you're thinking."

"Then you should know that I'm right," I said, my mouth quirking into a small smile. "And that we should be getting busy. We have a lot of work to do."

 **AN: Boom, quick upload. It's pretty short, but these next few chapters might be. I started and finished this all today, by the way.**

 **Tell me what you guys think of the numerous POV changes, by the way. I'm iffy about them, but they make the way I want to tell some aspects easier, so I'm trying them out.**

 **Also, I'm concerned. This website is no longer sending me notification emails when I get PM's, reviews, or story updates, and I don't know why. If anybody know, let me know. Thanks.**

 **But don't let any of that stop you guys from reviewing! I live for that shit, so let's get it.**

 **And Happy Valentine's Day, for those of you who it affects. Me? I'll be my lonely single self doing math homework that I should have been doing tonight but instead I wrote this chapter. Good luck to y'all, but I've got myself caught in a shitstorm.**

 **All of the Oats have left the building.**


	17. Chapter 16: A Slight Bend

**Right back into then, shall we? This shouldn't take long.**

 **I own myself and my OC. All else belongs to Intelligent Systems and each OC's respective owner.**

 **Emile POV:**

"Kellam, push them back!" I yelled, swinging my lance in a wide arc. We weren't up against a wall anymore. Having taken the momentum now that Robin was here, we pressed on and began to push the weird Risen out of the camp and up the hill. It was considered an advantage to have the high ground, but it didn't matter when we had more range than they did.

The combination of heavy armour, lances, and the occasional ball of lightning was too much for them to defend against, and we had them on the ropes before long.

But they were tough. Before Robin ran up and fried a few of them with Thunder, Kellam and I were having a hard time. They weren't getting any major hits in, but we weren't scoring any. The knight's armour was a saving grace, as he was protected and I could duck behind him if an attack was coming in that I wouldn't be fast enough to block.

Even still, they nicked and cut and me. Nothing deep or long, but little wounds started adding up, and I soon had a plethora of paper-cut sized incisions all over my arms, legs, and torso.

To think we went from a quick, late night spar to all-out combat in seconds was scary. Questions rose to my mind as I slashed, Kellam stabbed, and Robin cast. How had they known where we were? This wasn't in the game, so none of us knew it was coming. And they were unlike anything I had ever anticipated appearing.

I knew the Risen got smarter and stronger as time went on, especially nearing Grima's revival, but this soon? These guys were really tough. And fast. Many of their attacks were just flashes and blurs of steel, only visible because their blades shined in the pale moonlight. Each time I had a successful block, it was due to sheer luck, guesswork, or an unbelievable combination of the two.

I heard a screech, then took a chance glance back to see Dylan soaring through the sky, descending after being struck with an arrow. I followed the projectile's trajectory and saw that it came from the top of the hill, where a line of red-eyed figures stood with bows.

"At the top of the hill!" I called, and Robin looked up. I evaded a slash from one of the sword Risen, then retaliated with a slash and a jab. My attack didn't go deep, but it was enough for to wound and push the zombie back. If fell behind the line we were driving up the hell, but two more took its place.

I was past the question of who these Risen were and where they came from. Right now, neither of those were important. They were here, and that was it. Instead, I kept asking myself a different question. "How many of these are there?" I swore that there weren't this many when they first appeared, but I hadn't seen any more appear since then. Their abundance was absurd.

Kellam was silent. I had to take an occasional glance to make sure he was still there. He was like an unsurmountable wall, curved swords bouncing and sliding off of his heavy grooved armour. His lance landed far fewer hits than mine, but each hit from him was sent with force that I was unable to muster. He only dealt kill shots, his lance returning to his side with purple smoke curling around it.

When arrows fly, they let out a whistling noise. It is a telltale sign that there are deadly projectiles flying through the air. But over the noise of steel and the blood roaring in my ears? There was no sign, no whistle. I didn't know the archers had let loose their arrows, or even that their aim was upon us until a black arrow lodged itself in my shoulder.

Several arrows ricocheted off of Kellam's armour, burying into the ground without harming anybody. But another grazed my thigh, and a third found its mark in my left thigh. "Fuck," I groaned, clutching my leg with one hand while the other swung at the Risen with a loose grip on my lance. I didn't hear anything from Robin, so I had to assume she was fine. Turning was a bad idea, as each movement from my swings caused a tearing pain at each arrow wound. I assumed it was the arrow cutting deeper through the muscles there.

"They're firing again!" Robin yelled, and I looked up to see the archers nocking and drawing arrows. "Kellam!" The tactician and I had the same idea. The arrows bounced off of him before, so he was a better shield than anything we had. We slid behind him as soon as the archers fired, pressing together to make sure we were both protected as much as possible behind the tall knight.

We had to push all the way up the hill. Those archers were going to be a bigger problem than these swordsmen. We could keep hiding behind Kellam, but it was only so long until they got a lucky headshot and ended him, and the swordsmen got closer every time we hid. We were in a bad spot now.

"Hold them off," Robin said, her voice barely audible of the angry noise that enveloped us. Then the supporting fire of Thunder stopped. I looked back to see her close her eyes, both hands holding her tome.

"Bah," I turned back to the enemy. Whatever she was doing, it had to be for a reason. She was a smart girl. We just had to keep her covered until she was back. But with these archers, that was going to be difficult.

The arrows embedded in me made maneuvers harder to perform, as well. I was limited on movement. I hoped that whatever damage they were doing to me could be repaired with a heal staff. But with each swing, stab, or dodge, I knew that I was going to be out of commission for some time. Why was it that I always seemed to get the short end of the stick?

I wanted to look up and check when the archers were going to fire again, but my concentration was needed to keep the sword Risen at bay. There would be no warning noise, I knew, so I was left with an anxiousness that overpowered the thrum of battle. That constant nagging was at the back of my head, no matter how hard I beat it back to keep from being distracted.

It wasn't until Kellam yanked me back that I realized how carried away I was getting. I was pushing too far ahead, and had almost gotten surrounded by the enemy. The knight pulled me behind him, pushed me toward where Robin was still standing with her eyes closed. I only had time to turn back around before his armoured mass facing us, standing as a shield, like before.

More arrows bounced off of him, and soon the volley ended. This seemed like a great plan, until the sword Risen flanked around the knight. No one had been left to hold them back, and they took the chance to advance.

I spun my lance and blocked two downward slashes, while Kellam shifted his back to the other side in order to block another group of incoming attacks. Though lances were typically a more defensive type of weapon, this type of fighting did not agree with me as much. It was hard to remain on the defense for this long, especially with wounds against multiple opponents.

I made a note to improve on that in the future. That is, if I made it out of this situation.

"It's time to tip the scales!" Robin cried, eyes shooting open. I didn't bother to look back, shoving my way toward the two Risen attacking me with my lance outstretched horizontally. I heard a sound like the crack of thunder, then a flash as something shot past me. It was searing hot, and cast a bright light over everything. I spun and stabbed one of the Risen through the gut, then swung him into the other. They both hit the ground, then I impaled them both.

A quick look back at Robin showed me that she was breathing heavily, her tome dangling from her hand. Electricity arced around her slouched body. Stretching out in front of her was a straight line of seared ground and vaporized Risen leading up the hill. Everything in the path was sparking, a remnant of the devastating spell that passed over it. A cloud of purple smoke was rising into the sky, including that which used to be the archers atop the hill.

It took several seconds for me to realize that the tide had been turned. Robin's decisive move not only cleared out a large amount of the Risen we were fighting, but she destroyed most—if not all—of the archers that had been keeping our fliers grounded. Now that the skies were clear, however, they could take to the air and provide us all some much needed air support.

A shadow passed overhead, and Dylan's feathered body dived down to snag two Risen off the ground. As he rose higher with his victims in tow, I felt a small smile touch upon my face. We were no longer surrounded, and no longer on defense. Finally, FINALLY, I could actually fight back. The arrows lodged in my skin were less burdensome with that knowledge in hand.

Then a high-pitched sound split the air. I thought at first it came from Dylan: a victorious cry as he dropped the Risen to their end. But it didn't sound like something a bird could make. The noise was a human woman's voice, formed into a single name.

 **Robert POV:**

"GAIUS!"

Fuck. I didn't recognize the voice, but it was clear that Gaius was in trouble. I sped through the camp, almost tripping on the uneven ground. I didn't care, though. Something was happening.

I was close. I turned a corner to a Risen standing over two people, sword poised to stab down and kill them both. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that one of the people was Sumia, one desperate hand clutching a dagger while the other cradled an unconscious, bleeding Gaius.

The Pegasus knight made a flurry of swift, clumsy slashes that hit nothing. They were made in futility, an attempt at delaying the blade whose point remained mere inches from Sumia and her injured companion. The curved blade rose inch by inch, until it was parallel to the ground and the Risen's glowing red eyes were locked on Sumia.

I could make it. I had to. "Come on, come on, come on," I muttered, sprinting toward them "Sumia!"

"Robert!" she cried when she saw me. Her affirmation of my presence caught the Risen's attention, and it looked up to see me running with my sword raised.

It moved its sword to block mine. The reverse-grip it had taken to execute Sumia and Gaius was disadvantageous. The Risen was left unable to properly counterattack after my sword slid off of the curve blade. I didn't push him away. Time was short for Gaius, so we had to get him to a healer. That meant I had to kill this Risen quick. That meant relentless attacks until its guard broke.

Each attack I made was followed by another, be it in the form of a punch or kick that kept the Risen on edge until I could recover from my sword swing. The Risen managed to block my swords swings, as they were the lethal attacks. An especially hard swing brought great recoil to us both, and we recovered at the same time. Our retaliatory slashes came at the same time, and I lopped the Risen's head clean off. My swing had the perfect movement, allowing me to dance past his attack without injury. To be honest, it was 100% luck.

I was reluctant to put my sword away, the fear of another ambush still prevalent. Instead, I opted to look back at Sumia, who, having seen the lull in danger, was trying to lift Gaius to his feet. The thief was lifeless—limp in her arms—and bleeding over the Pegasus knight.

"Sumia, are you okay?" I asked, running over. I grabbed Gaius under one arm and lifted him up. Lithe as he was, he bore little weight, so it wasn't difficult. She nodded, and I shifted so I bore most of the thief's weight.

"Yes," she said, nodding. "But we need to get Gaius to a healer."

"Right." He was bleeding heavily. A gaping wound had been gored into his side, loosing a flood of red that ran down my back. It looked really, really bad, but there was a good chance that he could be saved. There was a problem, however.

All of the Shepherds were scattered in the attack, and I had no idea where any healers were. In fact, I no longer had any idea where anybody was except for the three of us. I ran a different direction than Chrom and the others. Agh, it was best to cut through the camp, toward where they had gone. It would be quicker than going all the way back around, and was less open than the pathways.

My mind made up, I turned to squeeze between two tents when a shape tumbled into view several yards away. It was a writhing mass letting out groans and muttered words. It wasn't until it rolled to the side that I was able to discern what it was through the darkness.

Zach was fighting with one of the Risen, rolling on the ground as the two fought for the winning position. A flash of light reflecting off of metal alerted me to the weapon in the Risen's hand, but no second light appeared. Zach didn't have a weapon.

"Shit," I growled, and struggled to hand Gaius to Sumia so I could go help. "Hold him." I made sure she had a good grip on the thief—while simultaneously keeping my sword from cutting either of them—before turning and running toward where Zach still fought.

He grabbed the Risen's sword hand and slammed it against the hard earth in hopes that it would let go of the weapon. This was to no avail, however. It was apparent that Risen didn't feel pain. The move to disarm the zombie was futile, and it flipped them over so that Zach's back was to the ground. The movement disoriented the myrmidon, and the Risen's sword point crept a hair closer to piercing Zach's chest.

That was when I arrived. I barreled into the Risen sword-first, knocking it off of the myrmidon and killing it in one motion. It turned to smoke as it hit the ground, and I lifted a relieved Zach to his feet. "Thanks," he breathed, brushing himself off. "I owe you one."

"How about helping me find a healer?" I suggested, indicating Sumia as she hoisted up a broken Gaius. "He's hurt pretty bad."

"Gaius?" he asked, eyes widening in shock at the sight. "Shit, um, alright, let's bring him this way." We both ran over to take Gaius from Sumia. It was quicker carrying him together, and we made a decent pace. The Pegasus knight kept a watchful eye behind us in case we were caught off guard again.

"Lissa and Maribelle were following close behind me when I was attacked, so they shouldn't be far—"

He was cut off by a pair of blondes running around a tent. "Zach!" one of them cried, and I recognized her as Lissa. Maribelle, standing right behind her, kept glancing about as her hands clasped tight around her stave. "Oh my gods!" the princess gasped at the sight of Gaius.

"What happened to him?" Maribelle asked as we set the thief to the ground and they went to work on fixing him up. Zach and I stepped aside to let Sumia to the talking, as neither of us had been present to see what went down. The Pegasus knight told us all what happened in a brief summary, and soon, the combined work of Heal and Mend staves made quick work of the wound that had been carved into Gaius's side. He remained unconscious after that, and likely would for quite some time if Emile was any indication the other day.

"Gods, what a mess," I muttered. "I was not expecting this." Zach caught on to the tone in my voice and I gave him a wink. I hoped he understood what I was getting at. His head dipped in a slight nod.

"It's like they came out of nowhere," the myrmidon agreed. "We all got split up, too. Do you know where anyone else is?"

I shook my head. "I was with Chrom a little bit ago, but we went separate ways."

"Robert, would you like for us to take care of your arm?" Maribelle asked, standing up from where she was had knelt at Gaius's side.

"What?" The troubadour pointed to where my arm was wrapped in an amateur tourniquet. I had completely forgotten about it in the chaos. Now that the thought was back in my head, it throbbed in anger. "Ah, yes, if you'd please."

"Will you stay here with them?" Zach asked from my side. "Someone needs to stand guard for these two until the area is clear, but we can't just lie in wait while other Shepherds may be in danger."

"You're right," I said as the odd sensation skin and muscle sewing together itched through my arm. "Yeah, I can stay." He motioned to his waist, reaching for where his sword normally resided. Instead, all that hung there was an empty scabbard.

He muttered a curse, and I was reminded of the Killing Edge at my own waist. "Here," I said, undoing the rough knot I'd done to tie it there and tossing the blade to him.

"I… Thank you, I… Are you sure?" he asked, his hands tender on the lace-wrapped hilt. "These are pretty expensive, aren't they?"

"Yeah," I said, unable to keep myself from grinning. "I snagged it for you, though. Took it from a myrmidon that I killed." I cleared my throat and masked my smile, then. In a straight face, I looked him dead in the eye and said, "Be sure to put it to good use."

"Of course," the myrmidon nodded. "I'll be sure to repay you." I was about to say that it would be unnecessary, but figured that it couldn't hurt to have some sway over somebody. All the better if I got something out of the deal. Without another word, he left.

The time that followed between myself and the two healers I was tasked with protecting was filled with awkward silence. The few times I had spoken to either of them in the past was for report or health check-ups after combat. Either way, words between us were sparse.

Lissa and Maribelle huddled close together, looking opposite directions. I stood a person's length away, wary and cautious. Even so, I couldn't help but notice the discomfort that passed between us. It was palpable, but there were no enemies attacking us, so I should have been thankful.

After what felt like hours standing there, however, it grew to be too much for me. I had to occupy myself until an enemy or news of victory arrived. It seemed that Maribelle had become just as impatient as I had. "Robert," she said. "How has Cordelia been doing?"

"Huh?" Even though I was about to disrupt the silence, it was unexpected. Especially when it came from the usually snobby troubadour. Perhaps that was part of it. "What do you mean?"

"I mean her healing." I looked back and met her eyes. "How is she coming along? She hasn't been in for a check-up, and I worry that constant combat may reopen her wounds."

"Oh, I see." That had been one of my fears, as well. "From what I can tell, she seems to be doing fine. Maybe I can convince her to get checked out?" I was unsure if she would listen to me, but it was worth a try. She seemed to like me well enough.

"If you could do that, I would be grateful." The troubadour gave me a brief smile, but it disappeared just as quickly. I thought she was acting odd, but maybe that was just me. I would have to ask her about it later.

A cry for help caught caught our attention and pulled me from my thoughts. We all looked to where the voice had come from. It sounded younger, and it was a girl's voice. It was accompanied by a deeper, gruffer voice that made similar shouts. I didn't recognize either voice, but it would be wrong to ignore them.

"Stay here," I said to Maribelle and Lissa, then ran off toward the wall of tents that the voices seemed to be coming from. I arrived just in time to see Nowi and Lon'qu come stumbling out from between two tents, covered in blood and dirt. They were not alone, however. They were carrying an unconscious Panne, her purple armour severed or broken in several places. In clumsy pursuit of them was a Risen, only visible in the shadows by the eerie glow of its eyes.

"Robert!" Nowi exclaimed, her small face slick with sweat and blood.

"Over there," I said, anticipating her question. "Lissa and Maribelle are sitting just over there." I received a curt, but thankful nod from Lon'qu before they stepped past me. I heard the shock and surprise from the two healers seconds after.

The Risen that had been chasing them through the tents was moving at a slow, odd pace. It was vastly different from the other ones that night, though it donned the same equipment. Its steps were awkward and fumbled. Its eyes flickered, but never left me as took chance steps to close the distance. When it was a few feet away, its foot caught on one of the tents and it fell to the ground.

That was when I noticed the steady spray of purple mist coming from its left thigh. It struggled to push itself up, and in my curiosity, I almost let it. When it rose to its knees on shaking arms, however, I drove my blade through its neck, and it collapsed to the dirt once more. Gods, these Risen were strange.

Lissa had checked over Lon'qu and Nowi, finding them both without major injury. The real problem was how Panne had two massive gashes. One stretched from her left hip up to her right shoulder, and the other cut deep into her right leg. Maribelle was tending to her when I got back, and Nowi was in the midst of explaining what had happened. The manakete was in tears.

"—and she couldn't use her beaststone because there wasn't enough room, so she blocked the attacks with her body to protect me. Then Lon'qu showed up. He killed the Risen, and then Zach—I think his name was Zach—appeared and he told us that there were healers this way, so we started to run through the tents. We were attacked on the way by another Risen, but we didn't have time to kill him, so Lon'qu just injured him. We—I, gods—"

"Lissa, calm her down," Maribelle said, not looking up from where she was healing Panne. Lissa moved to Nowi and pulled her into a hug, and the manakete started bawling. Older than all of us, but the pressure of it all still got to her.

When Panne was stable, Lon'qu and I moved her to the side, just in case more injured came our way. Fortunately, that never happened. The battle came to a close in little time. Chrom came running up to us, Krystal and Vaike at his side, to tell us that all of the Risen had been vanquished, except for the chief. The chief wasn't in the camp, however, and when Robin showed up shortly after with Kellam and Emile, we theorized that it was vaporized by Robin's Thunder.

Everyone gathered, then, and the same thing was announced to all that hadn't heard. The healers proceeded to do a check-up on everybody afterwards, and as time moved on and the high of adrenaline wound down, I began to feel more sluggish and tired. We were waiting in line in front of the medical tent, and I was three or four people away from being looked over when I felt myself lurch and fall to my knees.

Jumbled voices and concerned touches on my shoulder were drowned out by a roaring in my ears and a throbbing in my side. Silhouettes surrounded me, like blurry pillars that moved and sent out noises in the form of words. Someone shouted something, but I couldn't understand it. I moved my hand to touch where the new pain had come from, and pulled it away to find it slick with the crimson red of blood. Nausea and dizziness came then, and everything swirled around me at a sickening speed until all I saw was darkness.

 **baBOOM. We're moving forward. This little excursion is done and over. It seems those mysterious Risen caused more than a little trouble for our heroes, hmm?**

 **So this chapter was… different. Halfway through, I lost whatever creative idea I had for it and just kind of had to struggle through the rest. So it may seem less… imaginative. I admit, I'm not entirely satisfied with it, but it needed to be done. Besides, the ragged style with which it takes can be seen as a representation of the chaotic struggle the Shepherds underwent during the ambush, so there ya go.**

 **Regardless, I have decided on attempting a regular upload schedule. From now on, I will do my best to post a chapter every Tuesday until this twisting mess comes to its eventual close. Keep in mind that my connection may dick me over, but that is out of my control.**

 **Now one more thing before I go: Have any of you heard of Chekov's gun? If so, keep that in mind.**

 **All of the Oats have left the building.**


	18. Chapter 17: Writhing Under the Surface

**BBRRRRRAH GIH GIH I don't own Fire Emblem. If I did, I wouldn't have the worst fucking draws in Fire Emblem Heroes. Pundandda…**

 **Bhip's Ahoy: Bhobolate Bhip Boobies, BHEWY!**

 **?:**

" **They failed**." His voice was booming, echoing throughout the shadowy room. Different voices merged together to say the words, indifferent to age or sex. At one point, it was the voice of a little girl mashed together with that of an elderly man, speaking at nearly the same time. At another, it was two different grown men and a young boy. The number of voices speaking at one time was almost indiscernible.

I wondered if that was done in an attempt to intimidate me or if he was unable to help it. Whatever the case, I bowed my head both as a sign of respect and as an attempt to hide the ever-growing smirk on my face. It was no fault of mine that he was in this pathetic state, or that his warriors failed in their mission.

He gave me no sign of acknowledgement aside from continuing to rant. " **I told you to send them out and dispose of Naga's wretched spawn**."

"And I did as you said." I had done exactly that. Well, nearly. I _had_ sent the Risen out to attack the Shepherds. There may have been a few tweaks to the original plan, however.

" **But all of the Risen are** _ **DEAD**_!" he boomed, flaring back to life with a purple glow. " **Every Risen you sent has died, and none of the Ylisseans joined them**."

"Many are severely injured," I pointed out. "There is a fair chance that many will meet their end as a result of this attack." While I never intended to kill any of the Shepherds, it certainly wouldn't bother me if a few of the less important players fell to a surprise Risen invasion.

" **You are a fool to think that to be the case. They have HEALERS.** "

 _You are a fool for thinking that wounds are the only way to kill someone,_ is what I wanted to say. _Severe wounds have side effects, after all._ Instead, I said, "Yet they are crippled. Healings staves can only do so much, and I never sent all of the Risen."

That last statement piqued his interest. He turned around to face me, his hollow eyes finally regarding me with some semblance of emotion. It was indiscernible which emotion he gazed at me with, however. " **What**?"

"I never sent all of the Risen," I repeated, rising to my feet. "It would have been foolish to attack with everything we had." _Especially when I never planned to kill any of the Shepherds_. "So I kept a few of them back here."

" **Then we can create MORE and attack again while they are weakened** ," he mused. I imagined that, had he been more corporeal, he would have been stroking his chin and grinning. " **A good plan. There may be hope for you yet. Who knows what knowledge lies in that little head of yours**?" His echoing, maniacal laughter was my cue to leave. I stood, gave a departing bow, and left the room with a wide grin on my face. Before I was back in the open, however, I masked my smile and walked on with stoicism. Still, it was difficult not to laugh.

He had no idea how much I knew.

 **Dylan POV:**

The day after the attack, Robin and Chrom announced that we would remain where we were for the day and switch over to night marching. Chrom's reluctance to the plan was obvious, but it was overshadowed by the reasoning of it. We were tired and injured. A few of us were unable to march until they either woke up or recovered, and those that were up and moving had gotten no more than a minute or two of sleep before the Risen attacked.

From this point forward, the guards would be more numerous, especially at night, and their patrols would stretch outside the camp. Another ambush like this would be even more crippling, and we were hampered as it was.

Emile's leg muscles were all kinds of torn up by the arrow that had been in it. Lissa had healed him with her stave, but she still worried that there would be permanent damage. It was possible that he would have a limp for the rest of his life. To prevent as much strain on his leg as possible for now, he was to ride along with one of the cavaliers when we marched. Until then, he was ordered to bedrest, albeit with minimal complaining.

Gaius had taken a hell of a blow. He had a long, deep cut carved from his shoulder to the back of his thigh. It wasn't deep enough to damage any nerves, Maribelle believed, but would leave him out of commission for quite some time.

Vaike almost lost his hand. He was still awake while Lissa fixed him up, and in good spirits when telling his story. Apparently, he had been fighting alongside Miriel, and he needed to block an attack that was directed at the mage. Out of other options, or perhaps because it was the first thing that came to mind, Vaike thrust his arm in front of Miriel to take the blow for her. The Risen's curved blade came close to severing his hand from his arm, but not before Miriel scorched it into purple vapour. Lissa scolded him for the action, saying that he should have come up with something safer, to which Vaike replied, "This isn't even my axe hand. I don't even really need this one—ow!" He was left to his own devices, though rest was advised.

Robert's situation was a bit different. His injury had not been as severe as Gaius's or Vaike's, but no one had spotted it until he eventually collapsed. According to Maribelle, he had fainted from blood loss. They failed to catch the wound sooner due to his coat being the same shade of red as his blood. Still, the troubadour said he would be up within a three or four hours.

I had gotten off easy, with only needing a few arrows taken out. I had to remain transformed for the duration of the removal, however, as Lissa and Maribelle feared switching back to human size would cause the arrows to move and do more damage. Nevertheless, they were removed and I was sent to my tent to rest of the battle's exertion.

There was one problem with that. I could not sleep. The combination of the angry desert winds flapping the walls of my tent and the way my nerves were tingling made slumber a distant goal. My mind was buzzing, unable to form any coherent thoughts aside from the attack and those strange Risen.

That attack was a full-on ambush. The only actual ambushes that happened in Awakening were the one in Plegia castle and the one on Carrion Isle. Sure, I had expected there to be a few extra battles this time around—it was a war, after all—but this… This was an enormous break from canon. This attack was undocumented, as were the Risen that attacked us. Based on what I saw while flying over the camp, they were _really_ good. Perhaps not Deadlord good, but better than any of the other Risen we'd fought so far.

Their skill was not the only peculiarity, either. The entire way they functioned seemed off. They moved in smooth, trained strokes while normal Risen swung in mechanical, disjointed desperation. They were silent, the only sound coming from the _swish_ as their curved blades cut through the night air. The only real ties they had to Risen were their glowing eyes and the fetid purple smoke that came from their bodies.

I felt like an idiot. I should have been able to foresee something like this. I relied too much on the path sticking to canon, thinking there wouldn't be any major breaks. But I failed to realize that there had already been a number of breaks, so a big one was bound to happen any time. Ricken never appeared to rescue Maribelle, and Gangrel introduced that Dawn character. Then Dawn reappeared at the assassination attempt in Yllistol, while Panne failed to appear at all. Then the taguel finally appeared towards the ass end of the battle at Breakneck Pass with a broken and bloodied Cordelia fastened to her back. And THEN, we were ambushed on our way to rescue Emmeryn.

Yet no matter how many breaks there were, we always seemed to end up back on track. This ambush would be no different. All it managed to do was injure us and set us back a bit. But this was still very minor. Robin and Chrom adjusted our plans to not only account for this setback, but also improve our marching strategy. Our patrols would be larger and broader, as well, so our security was strengthened by this attack. Those with major injuries were recovering quickly as well, with the help of healing staves and trained healers. Overall, the ambush seemed to do more good than harm.

It was comforting to know that our tactician knew how to turn a disadvantage around, but I was still wary. We could not prepare for everything, and it was the things we could not prepare for that I was scared of.

 **?:**

It was peaceful in the South-East Plegia around sunset. Pink and orange streaked across the cloudless sky, reflecting off of the marshy wetlands and contrasting it against the bland desert to the north. I had only been here a short time, but it did not take long for the strange beauty to entrance me.

Of course, I could only walk through the marshes and forestry for so long. The king didn't want me gone for long. He had yet to put his trust in me, and I figured he would not live long enough for that to happen. The Ylliseans were closing, after all, and the Grimleal had no plan in assisting him. The king was alone in this war, and I had a feeling that something… cataclysmic was going to occur in time.

When this war came to a close, I would be sitting on the sidelines, observing and taking notes. Not that I needed to learn anything. I already knew all I needed and more. But it would be foolish to miss an opportunity, especially when this opportunity promised a hell of a show.

As I wandered back from the marshes, I pondered three things.

One: the Grimleal were growing day by day, but their progress was slow. Since the Ylisse-Ferox alliance was no doubt going to win this war, how would that affect them. Most likely, they would grow exponentially. The people need something to believe, and who else better than the religion that their country stands upon?

Two: Gangrel was foolish. He could not see the people stirring up trouble right beneath his nose. Or maybe he saw enough to come up with false accusations. Perhaps that was why he was reluctant to trust me despite how I have shown him nothing but loyalty. Besides, if I was plotting against him, he would have no idea I was the one at fault until my blade had pierced his gut.

Three: Gangrel was foolish. He could not see that he was underestimating me. Had he really sent someone to tail me on my walk? The hooded man slinking along the shadows of the trees made me lean toward the "yes" side. Perhaps I would have to have a few words with the mad king when I got back. Starting with an explanation for how one of his spies ended up dead in the marsh.

 **Emile POV:**

The days and nights passed with no major interruptions. We moved at night and slept in the day, which made eliminating any Plegian patrols we found along the way much easier. It only took a few arrows from Virion and then a stealthy main force moved in to kill the other soldiers in their sleep. It was an effective system that minimized injury on our side, and allowed us to sleep soundly in the day with little worry of another ambush. We still had Shepherds on guard the entire time, though, because our safety was never a guarantee.

The further South we marched, the more the desert became a mix of sandy dunes and sandstone foothills. We maneuvered to keep on the firmer ground to make better time. The cold took some getting used to, because it got _cold_. I almost wanted to compare it to Ferox, but it at least kept above zero in Plegia.

Nevertheless, night-marching made fantastic time. Robin said we had traveled as far in three days as she had projected we would go in five. I presumed it was because she had accounted for skirmishes, which we had nipped at the bud, and sandstorms, none of which we have run into. So, our progress was a combination of ingenuity and luck. We all sent out a collective prayer to Naga that our fortune remained at least until we made it to the capital.

As the healers had suggested, I rode with our cavaliers. Over our three night's travel, I rotated between Stahl, Sully, and Maribelle. Stahl's company was nice, and the two of us talked about many things, including food and medicine. I knew next to nothing about either, but it was intriguing to listen to someone with experience in both. Sully was fine, as well. She bugged me about getting hurt before we had our sparring session, but we also talked about different lance techniques.

I rode with Maribelle for the third night because she wanted to give me a sort of check-up as we moved. She asked if my wounds, long healed, had been hurting or aching in the past few days, to which I said, "Yes. My leg has been aching, but only when I walk."

The troubadour didn't say anything in response, but I knew she was frowning. A few more simple questions and then silence fell between us until we ultimately stopped for rest. I slept soundly, but it took a while for that sleep to find me. I had a bad feeling creeping up in me.

 **?:**

"Who are you?" The Exalt's melodic voice was strange to hear. How she still kept her airy tone after living in the dank recesses of Plegia Castle's dungeon, I could not say. It was an admirable quality, her will. I looked forward to seeing how long she would hold to it.

When would she break? Would it be when she looked down from the Executioner's Jut on Grima's horn, down to the sandy stone fifty feet below her as the executioner raised his axe to lop her head off? Or would it be when she saw her siblings fighting with their lives to save hers?

Or would she hold strong? If the Exalt held true to her desire and to her will, then she would be among the strongest people to ever live. I would personally hold her in high regard, and would consider it a great shame that her life was throw off of Dragon's skeleton before she could accomplish anything great. I would have to wait and see.

"I would rather not answer that," I said, making sure my cloak kept my face hidden. I cared not if she saw my face, but Gangrel was sure to have more spies tailing me and I would be remiss to let them know I visited the Exalt. "Not yet, at least."

"May I at least ask to see your face?"

"As long as you vow to tell no one you saw me." I flash her a grin from under my hood, and she offers her hand. Her hands, once pristine and delicately manicured to fit the royal image, were now rough and covered in grime. I shook her hand and took note of the few scars there. They seemed old, far older than any she would have received from Gangrel.

"I promise you that I will not share this visit."

"That's what I like to hear." Taking her word as law, I stepped closer and pulled my hood back enough for her to see my face. I still dared not say my name in the event of eavesdroppers, but they could gleam nothing from this little show of trust.

"Strange," the exalt said. "You do not look Plegian."

"Now be sure to keep this between us," I said, refastening my cloak and covering most of my face again. I smiled, though, so she knew I was here to talk in good will. A key to negotiating anything, even information, was to have absolute trust. Even if that trust was only half true.

"Of course," she said, closing her eyes for a time.

"Now I have a few questions for you." She opened her eyes and watched me carefully, staring at my eyes even though I knew she could not see them under my hood. "And I expect that you will answer to them all with nothing but the truth."

 **Robert POV:**

"Are you sure you are okay?"

"Yes, I am positive," I said, scoffing. Cordelia's fussing was getting ridiculous. For some reason, she seemed to think I got hurt because of her. It wasn't her fault that our attempt at dispatching the sleeping Plegians was botched. One of us failed to actually kill one of the soldiers quickly and silently, and he alerted the rest of the camp.

We had already been halfway through killing them, so it wasn't a hard fight. I was caught off-guard nonetheless, however, and one of the soldiers I was about to kill sprung from his bed and landed a surprised hit across my chest. I killed him in retaliation and went to Lissa right away, in fear of having a repeat of what happened during the Risen ambush.

Cordelia thought that just because she was my lookout while I killed the guy meant that my getting hurt was on her account. I told her multiple times while being healed how foolish that logic was, and more times during the march afterward. I was still a bit upset that I was the only one injured then, but sometimes you got dealt a bad hand.

But I could not really think that way. After all, I had a pretty red head fussing over my safety. Things could definitely be worse.

"Listen Cordy," I said, shoving one of my hands in my pocket while the other waved through the air for emphasis. "I am perfectly fine. It wasn't a major wound, and it wasn't your job to watch inside the tent. That was my job, and I messed it up. That's it. Now I don't want any more tears or apologies on your end, alright?"

She paused, staring at me. When she looked away, she seemed uncertain, but said, "Well, if you are sure, then I will have to trust you."

"Good, now let's focus on you." Her eyes shot open and she looked at me.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean how you are doing mentally." I adopted a serious look and met her gaze. Out of all the times we have talked over the past few days, this has never been a subject. But, seeing as we were coming to a high point in this war, I figured we would need to get it out of the way before the shit hit the fan. And, it was something I wanted to work out with her if something happened and I was kicked out of the Shepherds alongside the rest of our secret society. "And I know this is abrupt, but seeing as we are closing in on the capital…"

"You think there is something wrong with me mentally?" she asked, her tone indicating either surprise or outrage. I could not tell which. And that question made me think I worded something wrong, because she clearly took some offense from that. I needed to think carefully on how to words what I was going to say next.

"No, I just think that you are dealing with some issues that you don't know how to deal with on your own." Cordelia looked away from me and directed her eyes at the ground. She appeared to think for a moment, before raising her eyes. She kept her eyes pointed forward, however, and her lips were pressed into a thin line. "Hey."

She still didn't look at me, but I saw her eyes flick my direction for a moment. I'd touched a nerve, but that proved me right. "Look, I know what it's like to go through tough times. I've been through a lot of shit. I know what it is like to lose loved ones, and what it is like to have crazy shit going through my brain. I also know that it isn't easy. It is hard as all hell. Goddammit, I still have my own motherfuckin' issues to deal with but… Look, you don't have to do it alone. I've dealt with a lot on my own, and it isn't fun.

"And I'm not saying you have to talk about it right now. Anytime you want to, or just feel like talking, I will gladly lend an ear. I can keep my tent close to yours, too, if you'd like. Whatever makes it easier. But know that we are getting closer and closer to the Plegian castle, and if everything goes wrong… Well, let's just say I would rather you die with your head on straight, alright?"

Cordelia gave me no response, so I hoped I'd gotten through to her. If at the very least I could help someone, then, well, I'd have done something good in my life. It was strange to think that we were marching to our potential doom, though.

 **AN: I know, Gods, I KNOW. Not even a month into my schedule, and I missed a week. I know, you don't have to chide me. I've scolded myself enough over it already.**

 **And look at how fucking short it is, I KNOW. I had a bit of an idea for a chapter, but it sunk and now this short disjointed buddy boy is what I have to give you all. Again, I usually have no direction coming into these interludes, but that is something I wish to change starting now. Everything will have meaning, or my name doesn't mean Ruler of Men!**

 **But yeah, hopefully, this will be the only major break from the routine for quite some time. As usual, there was probably something else I wanted to put here, but I'm cutting it close as is.**

 **This will be the last interlude before Chapter 9. Y'all excited? Because I'm scared.**

 **Leave a review for me please, because I cherish the feedback and praise. My head is growing too big for my shoulders.**

 **Goodnight, everybody.**

 **All of the Oats have left the building.**


	19. Chapter 18: Public Relations

**I lied. Oops. Teehee, do nut be mayd wimme.**

 **Fire Emblem belongs to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems. I don't even own the laptop I'm typing this on.**

Robert POV:

Five Days. We only had five days until Exalt Emmeryn was executed. It affected everyone, this impending event. We were coming close to ending this war. At least, that's what everyone else thought. Being one of the few who knew that to be only half true, I was faced with a different kind of stress.

I had no idea of what we were going to do when the time came. I had not met up with Emile, Dylan and Krystal since we talked before coming into the desert, and the anticipation was getting to me. That, and I was still having trouble sleeping in the day instead of night, so I was irritable and slightly out of it.

None of this stopped me from slowing my march. After giving her three days of space, I walked beside Cordelia. She had yet to mention what I'd said then, or request to talk about it. Thought we did talk of other things. For instance, Sumia and Gaius were spending quite a significant amount of time with each other.

"Hmm." The air was a mite cold, rendering my skin riddle in small bumps. My coat was subpar for dealing with desert nights, as it no longer had sleeves to cover my arms, and holes of varying size dotted the rest of it. It was nothing compared to the warm cloaks presented to the other Shepherds. I suddenly regretted turning down that offer. I would need to do something about this ragged mess eventually. I knew nothing of sewing, however, so it was a possibility that I would buy a new one when we got back to Yllisse. Yet that would not be for quite some time. "What do you think about that?"

"About what?" She had opted to take the wing pins from her hair, and it fell loose over her shoulders like a scarlet cascade. I never remembered that happening in game, but that wasn't what bugged me about it. It wasn't the first deviation from canon, after all. No, what irked me was how reserved she got when I brought it up last night. She just went quiet and turned away for a time before changing the topic.

"About Sumia liking Gaius. What are your thoughts?"

"You think she likes him?" I could see gears turning in her head. She looked to the ground, hand on her chin in thought. "I suppose that is a possibility."

"You sound opposed to the idea," I observed. "Do you have something against Gaius?"

"No," she said, frowning. "Nothing personally. I have never held a conversation with him, in truth. I just"—she sighed—"thought Sumia had higher tastes than, well, a thief."

"That's a bit of a generalization, don't you think?" I was unable to help the accusation in my voice. Still, I'd expected her to be a bit more considerate. After all, Gaius wasn't so bad. "Not all thieves are liars and scoundrels."

"I know that, but"—another sigh—"it gives a bad reflection of the army. His clothes, for instance" She shook her head, brow furrowed in a scowl. The moonlight cast a silver glow over her fair face. I dismissed the thought and followed where her eyes looked to the sky. High above, Sumia was soaring alongside Gaius atop her Pegasus, the thief's scarf billowing in the wind behind them. "He dresses in a ragged, torn up cloak with candy and grime all over it. And the way he acts is hardly acceptable for a member of Chrom's personal team."

"I see," I said, piecing her disdain together. "You are worried that it will make Chrom look bad." The flush that covered her face in an instant was a strong reminder of her massive crush on the prince. _Right_. I had to stop looking at her like that. Her eyes were on Chrom.

She turned away to hide it, but the redness crept up to her ears. "Th-that's not why." I smiled at how flustered she became. Then, with one hand on her hip, she looked straight at me in defiance. "I am merely concerned with the image that he gives the group. That is all." The intensity in her red eyes was startling, but intriguing all the same. They were aimed in a glare that attempt to dissuade from the blush still colouring her face.

"They're red," I said. She blinked, caught off-guard by my sudden change of topic.

"What?"

"Your eyes. They are red, just like your hair."

"I do not understand." Her eyes stood out, with the cold air paling her face. The red looked like blots of blood on a white canvas, though perhaps the way her face was shaded by the moonlight helped with that effect. Not piercing, nor did they hold the burning strength only moments ago, but soft. Wide.

"What is there to understand?" I thought what I'd said was fairly self-explanatory. "Your eyes and hair are both red."

"Yes, I know. But why did you bring up the colour of my eyes?"

"Because I only now noticed the colour." I remembered now that most of the Shepherds' eyes were the same colour as their hair. Still, knowing and seeing an array of eye colours so much wider than what occurred back home were different entirely. "And I've never met anyone with red eyes before. It's kind of cool."

"I… If you say so." She went quiet and looked away, frowning again. The silence that followed was one of our own. The other Shepherds were engaged in their own marching conversations. It was an easy way to pass the time, and helped us grow closer to one another. Thinking about it almost made me feel bad about only spending time with Cordelia, as not only had I been losing out on the chance to speak with people who I normally would never have gotten the chance in the first place, but I was also taking up Cordelia's time. But that gave me an idea, and the opportunity had already presented itself.

"Say, I just thought of something." The Pegasus knight hummed in response, looking at me without turning her head. "If you are so worried about Gaius giving us a bad image, why don't you talk to him about it? He's a thief, so I'm sure he could take whatever criticism you have to dole out."

She put a hand to her chin, contemplating the idea. "Perhaps…" Yet another sigh. "Why had I not thought of that?" She palmed her forehead and shook her head. "It is such an obvious solution, and not only as a way to express my frustration toward him." Suddenly, I feel like I may have made a mistake. "I can convince him to clean up, wash that greasy orange hair of his and dress a bit nicer. Someone like him could look rather handsome with a bit of work and self-retention." Her lips, which had been a frown only moments ago had morphed into a gleeful, hopeful smile. "In time, he could even improve our public image."

"I like the enthusiasm," I say with a smirk, though my hands are raised defensively. "But maybe you should take it down a notch. I'm not saying he doesn't need work, but don't be too hard on the guy."

"Ah, yes." She scratches meekly on her cheek, her grin lessening. "I may have been getting carried away."

"It just shows your passion." I pat her on the shoulder and she nods. "It is a good idea, nonetheless."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, of course," I said and shoved my hands in my pockets. "It certainly isn't a bad one. Trust me, I've heard plenty of bad ideas in my day and that is not one of them." She smiled, and exhaled through her nose in a laugh. "I know a few good ones, too, if you're interest."

"Not today," she said, then pointed to the horizon. "'Morning is coming, so we're going to have to set up camp soon." True enough, the orange light creeping over the sandy horizon was a telltale precursor of morning. I was unsure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, I got to lay down after hours upon hours of walking. On the other, it was unlikely that I would not get much sleep anyway, so I was going to be staring up at the canvas ceiling of my tent for several hours.

"It seems you are correct." The Shepherds ahead of us were slowing down, and further down the line, those in the lead had already slid their heavy packs off their backs and had begun unloading. Before long, we had a camp of two dozen tents pitched in a hodge-podge circle.

We had turned guard patrol into a sort of gamble, where we pulled arrows from Virion's quiver. Four of the arrows bore a carved 'x' along the shaft, and the unlucky Shepherds who plucked those had to patrol the area and stay up until the next shift was chosen. This had started three days—well, nights ago to keep our spirits up, what with the looming execution on everybody's mind. A select few of the Shepherds even placed money on the wager, though I kept out of that. I was perhaps the only one who cared little if he had to do patrols or not, but that was a result of my minor insomnia.

So, as ritual demanded, each of the twenty Shepherds—whoever served last night was excluded in order to prevent them from getting drawn two or more times in a row. That meant that Stahl, Lissa, Kellam, and Miriel got the night off to rest and relax. I plucked my arrow, and held it at my side. It was not a rule, so the more curious among us looked immediately, but it was in good spirits to wait until all had drawn an arrow.

"Everybody has their straw?" Chrom asked, looking over us and our nodding responses. "Alright, then. On the count of three. One… two… three!"

And… I turned my arrow around to find a small 'x' etched just under the feathers. It looked like I had patrol tonight. Good thing I didn't place any money on this. I looked around at the others, and heard a small chorus of relieved sighs and whispers of "Yes!" from those who were either not looking forward to missing out on sleep or had money on this. I wondered who I would be guarding with, though, and the best way to do that was…

"I got one of them." Simply raising the arrow up and saying so. "Who else did?" The Shepherds who weren't handing over lost money looked around with me, until three other arrows rose to the sky in closed fists.

"Looks like we can continue our conversation from earlier, after all." Cordelia approached me with a smile and a marked arrow in hand. "I have one, too. And look who else."

She points behind me, and I turn around to see Gaius scowling with his own marked arrow. "I am not happy about this," he grumbled, plopping a sucker into his mouth. "I had a fair bit of coin on Blue here getting duty. Who would have thought my luck would be so sour?"

"I have one, as well," came the low voice of Lon'qu, standing right beside the thief.

"Alright, you four," Robin said, hands in her pockets. Even from a distance, I could see the bags under her eyes. I was not the only one having sleep problems, it seemed. "You know the drill: two awake at all times, with one member switching for another every few hours until dusk."

"Yes," we said in unison, our varying tones reflecting our moods.

"Then let's hope that the next time we speak is in the morning." I reciprocated her tired smile, and she turned to the others. "Everyone, get some rest."

All of the Shepherds began to filter out of the center circle of our camp, heading back to their respective tents. I smirked when I saw Zach leaving. I ran up and snagged him by the arm, startling him into a slight jump. "Gods," he breathed, holding a hand to his chest. "What was that for?" He noticed the cheeky grin on my face and countered it with a frown. "What is it?"

"I just thought I would point out that it looks like Robin has been having trouble sleeping." At the mention of Robin, he rolled his eyes. "Maybe you should check up on her and help her—"

"I am going to stop you there." I could tell he was suppressing a smile—it was painfully obvious. "Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I might just check in on her. It wouldn't be good for our tactician to suffer from insomnia as well as amnesia."

"True enough," I said, and clapped him on the shoulder. "Good night."

"Likewise."

I walked back to where the other three were talking. They were discussing who would take first shift, and Gaius was trying to place it on a gamble. "I'll take part of first shift," I said, stepping beside Cordelia. "I won't be able to sleep yet anyway, so I'm fine with it."

"You want to decide the order, then?" Gaius asked, reclining on his pack with one knee raised and his other leg resting on it. His arms were crossed under his head and a sucker was still in his mouth. "Since you volunteered for first, and all."

"Um, sure." I had to think. I wanted the chance to speak to each of them. If we switched off every two hours… I would only be able to talk to two of them. While I really wanted to speak to Gaius, I wanted to talk more with Cordelia and I knew she wanted to chew the thief out for his appearance. So… "Alright, I think it will start with me and Cordelia, then Cordelia and Gaius, Gaius and Lon'qu, then Lon'qu will wake me up to share the last shift. Does that work for everyone?" I looked over their faces and no one seemed to be in disapproval.

"Works for me," Lon'qu said, hoisting his pack over his shoulder. "I will be in my tent until I am needed."

"Same here." Gaius dragged himself to his feet and pulled his bag along the ground. "Talk to you later, Cherry."

The beginning of a shift was rather easy. It was only my second time doing it, but all we really had to do was skirt around the edge of the camp and keep an eye out for approaching squadrons of Plegian soldiers. The first time I patrolled I was with Virion, and the preening archer's keen eyesight made the job trivial. Even now, the dark uniforms that Plegians wore stood out against the light brown of the desert stones. But there were none in sight. Cordelia and I took another lap around to ensure our safety before returning the center circle.

"Looks like another easy shift," I said, sitting down under the little shade we had set up. "We lucked out."

"That seems to be the case." The Pegasus knight sat down next to me with an airy sigh. We sat there in silence for a time. It never grew awkward, as Cordelia cut it off by saying, "I have a question." I turned toward her without sitting up. Seeing that I was listening, she continued. "Did you pair me with Gaius because of my idea earlier?"

I turned away and stared up at the canvas we used as a sun block. "I guess that was pretty easy to see through, hmm?"

"It was not difficult, no," she admitted with a laugh. "Especially when you were grinning like mad when you suggested the order."

Now I had to sit up. I remembered no such thing. "What?"

She laughed again, like music. No, stop. "You didn't realize?" I shook my head, and another peal of laughter came from her. I felt a blush creep across my face and looked away. Why did that feel so unreasonably embarrassing? "Oh, I apologize. I just find it funny that you did not know you were grinning ear to ear." I turned further away, until my back was to her, and crossed my arms. I could tell she was smiling, even when she asked, "Are you actually angry?"

I did not answer until she sighed, at which point I decided to bring up just that. "You do that a lot."

"What?"

"Sigh. You sigh a lot."

"Ah." I turned back around and looked at her, resting one hand on my knee. "Yes," she agreed, "I suppose I do. It has become a sort of habit over time. My Pegasus Sisteres used to… they used to tease me about it all the time. They always said it was my only flaw." My heart skipped a beat. Did this mean she was ready to talk about it? Agh, what was I supposed to say to keep her on this track? Shit.

"Your one flaw?"

She nodded and laughed a dry laugh, humourless. "Yes. They would always call me the 'perfect knight' in every way except for how I sighed all the time. Whenever I did anything, that was what they called me."

"Being called perfect… Forgive me but… well, that doesn't sound like teasing to me," I said. I could not see how she viewed it as a taunt. Perfection was a goal, that meant you did everything right and excelled. "If anything, it sounds like a compliment."

The Pegasus knight shook her head, a faint smile on ghosted her lips. "That's funny. Robin said almost the same thing the other day." I was almost hurt. She talked to Robin about this before me, even after I'd offered my help. I brushed it off. I supposed that I wasn't the most trustworthy person in the army, being a mercenary and all. I didn't have Gregor's cheery disposition, either. "And you would be right. I thought the same thing, at first. It sounded like a compliment, but the more they said it… they said it whenever I did anything. Anything. No matter what I did, or how poorly, they always called me _perfect_."

I bit my tongue to keep from saying something bad. It was difficult, but… Gods, how long I had strived for that sort of approval, and yet here Cordelia was, receiving it for all of her achievements with no regard to how minor they may have been. How was that fair? And she was complaining about it? That _really_ pissed me off… or it would have, if not for the way her breath caught in her throat and she sniffled.

"I'm sorry, I…"

My expression softened and I leaned toward her, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder. "No, no, hey. You're all good." I could not see her eyes, as her hair had fallen over her face. "You don't need to apologize, you're fine." She'd curled her knees against her chest let out a shuddery breath.

"I shouldn't be crying like a child, but—"

"It's alright," I said. "Sometimes you just need to let it out." Countless minutes passed, and I moved my arm around her. She just cried into her knees, the occasional catch in her throat cutting off the subtle sobs. At one point, I heard footsteps coming toward us. Cordelia was unable to hear them, even when I saw the booted feet of our tactician step in front of our shade. She ducked in, likely having heard Cordelia crying. Why she was up in the first place was beyond me, but I mouthed to her, "We're okay, I got it."

Robin looked unsure for a time, her brow knit in concern before she nodded. "If you need me," she mouthed, "just let me know." Each syllable was silent yet exaggerated so I understood, and I nodded in return. She left then, and Cordelia was none the wiser.

"Cordelia, you can talk to me," I said. I was hesitant to even put my arm around her, considering we barely knew each other. It was somewhat customary to hold someone while you comforted them, but in this case… I just wasn't sure. So I remained close, but respected her distance aside from that one transgression. "I am here for you. What's wrong?"

"I let them down," she choked out between ragged, shaky breaths. "I left them to die after all they'd done."

"Cordelia…"

"Perfect. _Perfect_. If I am so perfect, why could I not even get away? I almost let their deaths be in vain. They sacrificed themselves to let me get away and warn Chrom and I nearly failed. If it wasn't for Panne, I would have died and so would the rest of you. I am a disappointment to the Pegasus Knights."

 _She really thinks that?_ Gods. "Is that why you don't wear your wing pins?"

She nodded. "I don't deserve to wear them. It would be dishonorable to sully the image that they stood for if I wore them."

"I don't think so." I shook my head and looked at her. Her eyes were still covered, so I brushed her hair out of the way. She stared back at me with red, puffy eyes while tears still spilled from them. "I don't think it would be disrespectful at all. You are among the last of the Pegasus Knights. Think about it: if they really thought so little of you, they would not have chosen you to live on with their legacy. Honestly, it is probably more disrespectful to let those pins sit in your pack and never let them see the light of day. Honour your sisters the right way and wear those pins with pride, in their name if you won't do it in your own."

Her eyes were turbulent, shaking as they peered deep into mine. Her mind was unreadable until she gritted her teeth and pushed past me, almost knocking me down. "I'm going for a walk," she growled as she left me alone, confused. Somewhere, I had crossed a line. That much I could see. But where was it? It must have been something I said. But that wasn't important now. What mattered was that I had possibly fucked up my friendship with Cordelia in a few words.

No.

I could salvage this. I just hoped our tactician was still wandering around camp.

 **Baboom. I know I said that this was going to be Chapter 9, but there was too much shit I wanted to cram into this one. Even so, this isn't half of it. In the end, I decided it would flow better if I split it here. And we're on time! Hah HAH! If things all go to plan, then next chapter will certainly be the Chapter numero nueve. I've made y'all wait long enough.**

 **Also, I did a random draw for whoever was going to be on guard duty to make it more realistic one on of those wheel-spin things, and ended up getting Robert, Cordelia, Lon'qu, and Gaius. I did this wheel-spin right where it reads the names of the four that patrolled the previous night. Crazy how stuff like that works out, huh? Really helped with my plan in the end.**

 **Also, there will be a change to the schedule. I am now changing it from Tuesdays to Thursdays, as it works better with my schedule. And in oppose to weekly uploads, I will switch to biweekly. So starting either next Thursday or the one after, chapters will be uploaded every other Thursday. Sound like a plan? Here's to hoping I can stick to this one.**

 **Leave your thoughts about this chapter in a review to give me a warm tingling feeling inside. Thanks for reading if you got here, by the way. I tend to leave rather lengthy Author's Notes, and I don't see that changing any time soon.**

 **All of the Oats have left the Building.**


	20. Chapter 19: Emmeryn

**ALRIGHT, NO MORE WAITING AROUND! Let's get this show on the road!**

 **Fire Emblem is owned by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.**

 **?:**

"Mister Libra?" I called, unable to hold the whine from my voice. "Are we almost to Castle Plegia?" We had been marching for days, now, ever since the announcement of the Exalt's execution. The other clerics and priests were holding their own, and we made good time thanks to the natural advantage we had as magic bearers that allowed us to move unhindered through the desert.

That was not to say it had been easy, though. Plegians had attacked us on numerous occasions, and many of us were mere healers with small daggers for self-defense and no combat training to use them in any other fashion. I was one of the defenseless clerics, and had to rely on the War Monks like Mister Libra to defeat the enemies. Our numbers were whittled down by their ranged fighters and wyvern riders, though, and our lone sage was the only way we had to combat them.

The Sage's name was Asbel, and despite his proficiency in wind magic, he was tiring from its overuse. We could not rely on him forever, but… The closer we got to Plegia's capital, the more wyvern riders there were. Their throwing axes were killing us off. A group of more than two dozen clergymen had been reduced to fifteen in the duration of our travels.

I did my best to heal them. I had broken one of the three staves I'd brought with me—it was Mister Libra's suggestion, for he anticipated heavy resistance from the Plegians—and the staff in my hands now could not have more than a third of its duration remaining. I could see the orb at the top beginning to lose its luster. After that, the last staff in my possession was a Mend.

We did our best to stay out of the way of Plegian patrols. The townspeople respected us, and seemed to be indifferent towards our presence. We were mere travelers, despite the state of open war that had erupted in Plegia according to Mister Libra and another War Monk named Saul.

I walked to the top of a hill, keeping my head below the crest while Mister Libra searched for soldiers. My uniform and hair, both a different shade of pink, stood out somewhat against the dunes, so I had to keep under cover while the others looked ahead.

"Alright, the coast is clear," Mister Libra said, waving for the rest of us to follow him over the hill. He had become something of a leader after the head monk died in the last attack, taking up the mantle.

I thought he hadn't heard my question. It was understandable, though. We were in the middle of a fierce sandstorm. Our magic protected us from it, but did not make the whirling sand any permeable. It was a wonder we heard him call out, and amazing that he could see anything at all. I could barely see anything in this mess. I was about to ask him again, then stopped myself. He was probably under a lot of pressure, so my nagging wouldn't do him any good. Besides, the castle could have been super close, and my worries would have been for nothing.

I just wish my feet didn't hurt so much.

 **Robin POV:**

I tried not to let it show how relieved I was when the river city was near. After almost two weeks of marching, I had all but forgotten that this city was along our route. Seeing it now, the name still evaded me. That may have come as a result of how little sleep I'd gotten in the past weeks, though. I'd been having a hard time remembering much of anything, as of late. I really needed to get some sleep.

But that was part of why I was so glad to get here. I pulled out the map from one of my coat pockets and checked it. I smiled. It was no more than a day's travel from the capital. And we had four days left until the execution. That gave us three days to rest up and plan a better approach.

Being this close to the Capital, however, meant that we had to proceed with caution. Gangrel was certain to have more soldiers this close, and it was not farfetched to believe that he would have some of them stationed in this very town. I moved with caution to the top of a hill alongside Virion, Krystal, and Gaius.

We crept our way down the hill. Krystal was a necessary companion on this scouting mission. The wind was fierce, blowing sand around us in a blinding haze for the past few hours. The dark mage's natural magic protection acted as a shield and protected us from the sandstorm's abrasion. Vision was still a major issue, so I needed the superior vision of Gaius and Virion to spot, well, anything. Virion had a talent for tactics, as well, and Krystal was more than capable of coming up with smart ideas, too.

We all left our packs with the other Shepherds back at camp. For sneaking around inside a city, we needed to be small, mobile, and stealthy. More than a few of the Shepherds lacked all of those qualities, as did a large force of armed soldiers.

Once we snuck inside the city's walls, the sand was not such a bane. We were able to move freely, though the buildings were all tightly packed. There was little room for hiding, and alleys were sparse.

"I can climb up on the roofs," Gaius suggested, his voice a harsh whisper. "Scout ahead and keep a look out for baddies." Clear of flying sand, he pulled a piece of candy from inside his cloak and plopped it into his mouth. "It'll be easier than trying to squeeze all of us inside these little alleyways."

Indeed. Even now, the four of us stood shoulder to shoulder. Virion had his quiver held at his side, as he would have otherwise been unable to fit. I was worried that my coat was going to tear. I could not move without scraping my chest or back against either the sandstone walls of the house in front of or behind me. I had to remove my sword and tome from my hips to even get in here. Krystal was small enough that she could almost move while only touching one wall.

I thought for a moment. "Do it, but take Virion with you. Take out anybody that shows signs of seeing us, but keep out of sight. We don't want any alarms being raised." I didn't know if there were any alarms or bells set up in this town, but that wasn't a chance I wanted to take. I wanted this to be a clean sweep through the town. Another slip up like our botched ambush a few nights ago could prove problematic when we were so close to the climax.

The thief and archer nodded and I slipped out of the let them out. Gaius felt along the street-facing wall for footholds, then began his ascent. He vaulted the wall quickly, and soon found himself looking down at us from the rooftops. "Come on, Ruffles," he said, lowering his arms for Virion to grab on. "Climb up here."

Virion's booted foot found trouble gaining a purchase on the wall, even when Gaius was pulling him up. "Come on, get _up_ here," the thief groaned, planting his feet against the roof's border to gain leverage. "You have to at least try!"

"What do you think I am doing?" the archer barked back, glaring up at Gaius. "I'm not just sitting here!"

"You may as well be!"

The argument would have been far more heated if they hadn't been whisper-shouting. It would have been comical if not for the torch light coming from around the house's far corner. My eyes lit up at the sight and I put my hand under Virion's foot. "Hurry up and go!" I hissed, pushing him up. "Guards are coming!"

He yelped as Gaius pulled him over the ledge and they disappeared from view after the thief whispered, "We'll take care of them, Bubbles." I tossed Virion's bow and quiver up to them and scurried back to the alleyway.

"Hold this," I said, passing Krystal my sword and squeezing in beside her. I had my tome open, but lowered. If the guards walked past and happened to see me, I would hit them with a blast of thunder. It was a last resort, of course, and would create a scene. But that was better than being caught defenseless.

The city fell silent, it seemed, now that our fiasco in trying to get Virion on top of the house had ended. The only sounds I could hear were mine and Krystal's breathing and the echoing footsteps of the approaching soldiers. They grew closer and closer until the torchlight began to shine into the alley. The soldiers didn't come into view, though, and I heard them mutter something. Their loud footsteps were replaced with soft, cat-like steps, but I could tell that they were coming closer. There was an alley across the street from where we were hiding. I figured they were split up, with one going to check each alley.

When I saw the soldier across the street, I knew that the other was very close to the alley entrance. I raised my hand and readied Thunder. The torch came into view first and I grit my teeth. I heard Krystal suck in a shallow breath. _Dammit, Virion, what are you doing?_

The soldier's face came into view, and his mouth opened in an attempt to shout when something fell from the roof. The clattering sound of his armour made me flinch, and alerted the other guard. By the time that I realized it was Gaius who pounced on the soldier—he plunged a dagger into the Plegian's neck during the fall—Virion had already silenced the one across the street with a precise arrow.

I let out my held breath in a sigh and stepped out from the alleyway. I was glad to finally be free of it. Squeezing in and out was beginning to chafe my chest and back. Gaius stood up and wiped his bloody dagger on his pant leg before sliding it back into his sheath. "Sorry we cut it so close there, Bubbles," he whispered.

"It's fine," I said, trying to manage a smile. Krystal handed my sword back to me after she came out of the alley. "Just try to keep it from happening again." He nodded, and I flipped my hood up. "Now get back up there. You're our eyes and ears."

Without another word, the thief scaled the house and was once again lurking on the rooftops. "I'll take point, but watch my back," I muttered to Krystal, and put my tome away. A sword was definitely quieter than the crackling lightning of a Thunder charge. It didn't light up for miles, either. Krystal's Flux was the opposite, being perfect for nighttime stealth missions. It made little noise and was darker than the sky.

We made it into the city with relative ease, too, considering its proximity to the capital. Two of the guards noticed us slipping through the gate, aside from those posted out front. This posed a problem that was solved with two well-placed arrows, however. Now that we were inside, I expected things to be harder.

I did not know the layout of the city, but imagined that the river ran through the middle. If that was the case, there would be a bridge crossing over it. The Plegians would like to have their garrison closer to the capital and farther from the northern gate. I knew the river ran over from Ylisse and crossed the border—it was smaller, and wound through the mountain range creating the border between the two nations—so it probably split the city in two horizontally. If I was right, we would have to cross the bridge to reach the garrison. To clear out this city, we would need to break cover for a longer time than I would like. But if we took over that garrison, we would not have to pay for an inn or remain outside the walls while we stayed here.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, I clung to the corner and waved for Krystal to follow. A quick glance to the other side let me know that there were no soldiers coming from this way. This city was rather small in comparison to either Ylisstol or the Feroxi capital, and the compacted buildings gave way to wide, spare streets. Easy to navigate, but I still had to be careful.

"Gaius!" I whispered, trying to make my voice loud without being heard by any unwanted listeners. The thief gave no response, and I frowned before cupping my hands in front of my mouth as if to shout. "Gaius!" I whispered again, this time louder. Once more, no response. I was about to call a third time when I heard two grunts in succession and the noise of something slumping to the ground.

I rounded the corner to see two Plegian's with arrows in their backs and a third dead with Gaius standing over him. The red-head looked at me with a scowl, and made his way over as he sheathed his daggers. "What were you being so loud for?" he growled, making sure to look around before he spoke.

"I needed to get your attention."

"As well as half of the damn town's guards'?" he asked, incredulous. "What do you want?"

"I need you to confirm something for me," I said, kneeling down. I drew a wide circle in the sand with my sword and cut a line through the middle. "There is a river that should run through the middle of this town. If I'm right, there will be a garrison or barracks on the other side." I circled a point on one side of the line. "If it's there, I want that to be our first target. The main brunt of their forces should be in there, and if we take their commander down, we may be able to force a surrender without any more casualties."

"And you want me to run on these houses to check out the situation," Gaius said, nodding. "Got it. Come on, Ruffles."

"Thank you." I barely heard Virion's confused muttering.

"Alright." I leaned back against the house and stifled a yawn. "Now we just have to wait for them to get back and we can move out." Krystal nodded and hugged her tome to her chest. I realized now that she had been silent this entire time. She was usually quiet, but… "Krystal?" I said her name, and she looked up from the sand. "Are you alright? You haven't said a word since we left camp."

"Ah, yes I'm fine. My mind has just been elsewhere, I suppose." Her foot slid along the sand, making liquid-like grooves in the golden granules. "In truth, I'm worried. Chrom has been acting weird, lately."

"Oh?"

"He's been agitated and withdrawn. I don't think he's actually talked to anyone since Robert was hurt a few nights ago. When we march, he keeps staring straight ahead and…"

Whatever she said next was lost to me. I heard nothing past that, and suddenly she was done talking. It was like I had skipped a few seconds in time, or blacked out. I blinked a few times and rubbed my eyes. _That was strange_. Krystal didn't seem to notice however, and I yawned.

My eyes began to droop at some point, but time was getting difficult to tell. I would start dozing, nodding my head forward and my eyes would close for a second or two. I could myself every time, though, and rubbed my eyes to try and stay awake. I needed something to focus on. I looked around, my mind bleary, but everything looked the same in this damn city.

 _Come on, Robin. Just a little bit longer_.

Suddenly, I saw shadows moving further back in the street. I blinked a few times, thinking it was my eyes playing tricks on me, but they were still there. Squinting at them, I began to make my way toward them at a crawl's pace. I heard Krystal call out my name, but her voice was muffled and distant, like listening through water. I gestured back for her to stay quiet and lowered myself to a crouch as I moved. She called my name again, and I was about to turn around to demand her silence when something touched my shoulder and I jumped.

My eyes snapped open and I caught myself before I fell. "What…" I was standing right next to Krystal still, and she was staring at me. Her stormy eyes were troubled. I rubbed at my eyes once more, pinching my nose and shaking my head. "Gods…" I fell asleep standing up.

"Are you alright?" she asked, her voice quiet. Up close and clear, though.

"Uh, yeah," I said, clearing my throat. "I'm fine, just a bit tired." I knew as soon as the words left my mouth that I didn't sound convincing. It wasn't a complete lie, after all. She studied my face, and I recognized the familiar investigative look in her eyes. It was different being on the receiving end, however. My eyelids started to fall shut just in the span of her looking at me, even though it was only a few seconds long.

I blinked myself awake when she stepped back. She had moved pretty close in order to get a good look at me, it appeared. "Did you sleep today?" I thought for a moment before shaking my head. "Robin!' she gasped.

"I couldn't sleep," I muttered, yawning again. "So I went for a walk. Then I heard crying, but Robert said he had it covered. Apparently he didn't, because he came to me later asking for me to talk to Cordelia. Then I had to look over the maps and make sure we were still on the right track." It occurred to me that this was fairly personal information that I shouldn't have been sharing without Cordelia's consent, but not until after I'd already spoken. Though I never did end up talking to the Pegasus knight. I could probably get to that after we'd taken this city over.

"What about yesterday?" Krystal asked, standing in front of me. She seemed to ignore what I'd said about Cordelia, which was good. Or maybe she was pushing it off for now. I bet that she was just storing the information. Huh. That reminded me of what Gaius told me a few nights ago—I could see the picture of the thief skulking around clearly in my mind—

"Robin." Krystal had a sour look on her face as she tapped my cheek. I'd been dozing again. "Did you sleep yesterday?" I slowly shook my head again, and she shook me by the shoulder. "You haven't slept in two days?"

"I've been busy." It was the best excuse I could muster. I knew I was in the wrong here, and my brain was too sleep deprived to come up with an even slightly valid reason.

"Busy can wait!" Krystal fumed.

Thankfully, Gaius dropped down beside us and gave me a way out of this conversation. I was too tired to be having it. "And so can this conversation," I whispered to her. "What's the report, Gaius?"

"You were right," the thief said, dusting himself off. "There's a big old building on the far side of the city. Ruffles is camped out there right now, keeping watch, but they have a whole bunch of guards standing around it. Seems like a pretty important place."

"Then we need to take it over," I said, stretching myself out. I reached for my sword, only to find it missing from its sheathe. Confused, I looked around and found it by my right foot. I must have dropped it at some point. Strange. I ignored the concerned look from Krystal, saying, "Let's go."

I saw Gaius cast a quick, inquisitive glance at Krystal before scaling the building and following along from there. The thief acted as scout, waving us forward when the path was clear. When it was necessary to get our hands dirty, whoever stood in our way was taken out without a fuss via a dagger thrown by Gaius or a quick cast of Flux from Krystal. A full battle never broke out, nor were we ever detected aside from the brief attention from a soldier who witnessed his ally's death mere seconds before his own.

Before long, we made it to where VIrion was hiding. He was crouched down on a roof, masked in the darkness. It was a great hiding spot, as I only noticed him when Gaius pointed him out. The thief got us all up onto the same roof so we could use it as a vantage point and plan our approach. It was a large building just as he'd said, but it looked newer than the other buildings. Its edges were sharper, while most of the houses had been worn by the harsh sandstorms. A few of the windowed rooms still shone with light, though I saw no one inside any of them. As far as I could tell, guards were posted around the entire perimeter of the building.

"I don't know if that is the garrison or whatever it was you were looking for," Gaius said, shrugging, "but a building that big and well-guarded is bound to have something we can use."

"I think you're right." I rubbed at my eyes and squinted at the windows, searching again for any figures inside.

"A group of men was in the third room from the left on the top floor," Virion said, pointing to said room. The light was still burning bright. "They looked to be discussing a rather serious matter, but they left the room shortly before you all arrived."

"Well unless they plan to come back," I muttered, "I doubt they would leave a light in an empty room." Not unless they were very foolish. "We need to keep an eye on that window until we are sure it is empty. Have the guards moved at all while you've been here?"

"Only once," the archer replied. His bow was slung over his shoulder now, and his keenly primped hair was blowing in the wind. Now that we were above ground level, the wind was fiercer and louder. Not loud enough that we had to shout over it, thankfully. But it worked against us, because anyone below would be able to hear us more than we could hear them, and that was a disadvantage I wanted to neutralize as soon as possible. "A moment after Gaius left, the three along that wall switched off individually with another guard inside. But that is all. It is possible that the same occurred on the opposite side, but I cannot see them from over here."

The way they were posted, if we to take any one of the guards down, another would surely notice and be able to alert the others. This was troublesome, but I should have expected as much with how close we were to the capital. There was no way to do this without drawing some attention, but perhaps we could minimize that with speed…

"I think I have a plan."

 **Ω:**

We blundered the plan. Hard.

What Gaius was supposed to do was throw a knife at one of the middle guards then drop down to kill the alerted guard while Virion killed the other one. Then Krystal would kill the two guards alerted from Virion's kill while Gaius retreated to the rooftops. After that, it was up to Krystal and Virion to snipe the remaining guards, seeing as I was effectively useless unless things went awry.

While Gaius was running to the other side to kill his mark, however, he slipped on the rounded roof of one of the houses and fell to the street below, which alerted everyone on that side. Fortunately, only one of them went to check out the noise, figuring it was some desert animal or something. Gaius killed him, then climbed back up the house to avoid getting cornered. Virion and Krystal picked them off, but not before everyone else in the damned building. They flooded outside, though the single door was an oversight on their part, making them easy targets for Virion, Krystal, and, seeing as the plan had fallen apart and stealth was out the window, myself. Eventually we pushed inside and took over the garrison in spite of the setback. The commander in charge of the city was sitting inside. He was actually the one inside the single lit room that we had seen from outside, and he put up little struggle when three of us burst in through the door and stomped up the stairs into his room while Gaius slipped in through the window. It wound down pretty quickly after that so I sent Gaius to go bring the other Shepherds in. We had taken quite some time, and I hoped they were all okay after waiting so long in the sandstorm.

The garrison didn't have any cells to keep the surrendered Plegians in, but there were dungeons in a separate building. The prisoners would be kept there until the war was done. Just in case I forgot, I wrote a letter to Flavia telling her about them. I gave it to a courier and sent him off, though I was unsure if he would be able to get through the main army's front lines to deliver it.

The ruling duke in charge of the city held no ill will towards us when we announced our take over. He seemed indifferent as to who occupied it as long as they let his people live as they always had. We agreed without complaint. We had no desire to rule the city, anyway.

Even though the garrison didn't have cells, it was a very large building capable of housing all of the Shepherds and then some. Chrom and I set up everyone in their own rooms while Lissa and Maribelle treated everyone for rashes caused by abrasion from the sand and for other issues caused by prolonged exposure. The beds were a bit disheveled, considering the sleeping soldiers had hustled out of bed to meet our infiltration. We had done our best to minimalize casualties, or blood splatter when a kill was unavoidable. The rooms were relatively clean as a result.

After a long week and a half of sleeping on rocky ground in the dry heat, we all, with the exception of maybe Panne, were glad to sleep in a bed again. Even if it was only for a few days. It had been even longer since any of us had bathed, too, and the combination of dirt, sweat, blood, and sand in places I did not want it to be. As a result of these factors as well as my sleep deprivation, I almost broke into tears at the sight of the bathhouses attached to garrison.

It was a large bathing house, designed for multiple people at a time. Almost like that of the hot springs on Valm that I'd read about. It worked via the well installed in the room, so I drew enough water to fill it then, instead of heating it with fire, I just flicked a Fire spell into it instead. The water heated up instantly, much to my convenience, and I let myself laze into the warm waters for a nice, calm, relaxing bath.

My eyes had begun to close, the comfortable atmosphere appealing to my fatigue. I was tempted to let them close and allow myself a brief nap when I heard footsteps coming in behind. My eyes snapped open and I turned around, covering myself and snagging a bar of soap that I had sitting nearby, just in case. I calmed when I saw bright red hair, however.

"Hello, Cordelia," I guessed, turning around so my back was to her. I set the bar of soap back down on the ledge but still kept in close. I assumed it was her, but the steam that had filled the room already made it hard to be certain.

She stopped walking at the sound of my voice and I heard her squeak a bit. "Oh, Robin. I apologize," she said, "I did not think to find anybody else in here. I can leave."

I realized she was about to turn and leave, so I spun around, leaning over the ledge of the bath. "No, wait," I said, and she stopped moving. I just remembered something. "I don't mind if you stay. This is a group bathhouse after all, and it would be a waste for just one person. Besides, there was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Well, if you don't mind, then…" After a moment of hesitation, she dipped into the water, as well.

"Let me know if you want it warmer," I offered, and she nodded. There was a slight blush on her cheeks, even as she submerged herself up to her neck. We just sat there for a time. For some reason, I expected her to say something, but she remained silent. My eyes began to drift shut again, and I had almost slid into dreams when she finally spoke.

"You said you wanted to talk to me, did you not?"

Ah, right. I pulled myself into a sitting position, having begun to slip lower into the water as I dozed. "Yes, actually. I wanted to talk to you about the siege of Yllistol." She tensed in an instant. Even from a distance, I could see her eyes flicking over the surface of the water while her mind worked to come up with some reason as to why I would bring this topic up out of the blue. "I'm sorry if it's a sensitive topic, but I was talking to Robert"—she frowned at his mention—"and he said you seemed rather bothered lately. And you haven't been wearing your pins." I would have pointed to her hair now for emphasis, but seeing as we were in the bathhouse it would be within reason to leave them behind anyway.

"How much did he tell you?"

"Just that you stormed off after he said something, though I have no idea what he said," I admitted. "And that he was concerned. I have to say, I am as well. From what Sumia and Chrom told me about you before, I figured you would be wearing your wing pins with pride." I let her think for a few seconds and process everything I'd said. She avoided my gaze, and I felt the frown on my face. I didn't know what I was doing. Why did Robert think to ask for my help with her? When she continued to say nothing, I sighed. "Could you at least tell me why you are angry at Robert? If he said something insensitive I need to know so I can punish him accordingly." I tried to lighten the mood with the comment, punching my palm and catching my fist.

I received a half-hearted smile in response. "I'm not angry with him," she said. "Not anymore, at least."

"Oh?"

"At the time, I was venting my frustrations and he said something rather bluntly. As emotional as I was," she shrugged, "it was enough for my temper to get the better of me. A moment of weakness, I know, and all the more unbecoming of—"

"Whoa, whoa," I said, raising my hands to stop her. "I'm not the one you should be telling this to." I couldn't resist taking this chance. Not only would it mend the little hole in their relationship—especially with a few words of subtle encouragement to the other half in this whole—but it could also serve to build it into something _more!_ Ooh, I was getting excited at the possibility. Perhaps it was my mischievous side. "Robert needs to hear this more than me. He sounded pretty distressed over the whole thing. I think it would do him some good to hear that you aren't upset with him anymore."

"Truly?" One of her eyebrows went up. I was going to mask my smile, but decided that it was good for the new mood of the conversation.

"Yeah," I nodded. "But be a little tough on him. Make him work for it."

She laughed, and I found myself chuckling along. "Maybe." Her voice betrayed her words, as did her smile. I knew she was going to talk to Robert about this. I needed to talk to the mercenary before them and give him a few "helpful hints".

I turned away from her, then. It was all I could do to keep from giggling in excitement. Would it be abuse of my power if I paired them together frequently? Probably. But they did work well together. I was willing to bet that Robert trusted her more than any other Shepherds, and they had good chemistry in combat. Man, orchestrating people would never get old. Perks of being a tactician.

The soft padding of footsteps caught my attention. Cordelia's as well, and we both looked toward the entrance to see a short-statured silhouette through the steam. When whoever it was came close enough, they stopped. "Oh." Krystal's meek voice broke the silence. "I-I thought no one was in here. My mistake."

"No, you're fine," I said. "I don't know about Cordelia, but I won't be in here much longer." I was already wrinkling like a prune after staying in here for so long. I had better finish washing up and get out so I could still do something tonight.

I grabbed the bar of soap and began to scrub myself down. As I did, Krystal stepped into the water just as hesitantly, if not more so, than Cordelia had. She looked apprehensive, I realized, her eyes skirting along the water's surface, though her eyes flicked up to both Cordelia and I on occasion. The Pegasus knight had gone silent, aside from when she asked to use the soap. It was awkward, and I couldn't help but think that there was some tension between the two of them. While I had never seen anything to signify such a thing, I could not watch them all the time. There were going to be events that slipped past me, especially lately.

"I can't be the only one happy to be sleeping in a bed again," I said, grinning. Both of them nodded, and Krystal glanced up to me before she looked away again. She looked like she wanted to say something. I had an idea of what it was and how to bait it out. "Hopefully I'll actually get some decent sleep."

"Have you been having trouble getting sleep?" Cordelia asked, scrubbing her hair. Krystal, however, remained silent. But I _knew_ she wanted to speak! I realized she was shy, but gods dammit, come on! Work with me, here.

"Yes."

"Is it just sleeping on the ground, or…?" I appreciated that Cordelia was holding a conversation. Maybe she was just trying to help me like I had been for her trouble. And she was partly right. The uneven ground definitely made it more difficult to get good sleep. I just wished that was all of it.

"Yeah," was all I said. Not her problem. She had a mercenary to talk to later, so she didn't need to worry about me.

"That can't be all," Krystal murmured, just loud enough for me to hear over the splashing water as I rinsed my hair. "You haven't slept in two days." I was right. She wanted to bring it up again.

"Two days?" Cordelia heard her loud and clear, surprised enough to drop the bucket she'd just filled with water to rinse the soap from her hair. "You haven't slept in that long?" I suddenly regretted getting Krystal to speak up. With both hers and Cordelia's eyes on me, I felt like a child being scolded by her parents. I felt very foolish. "And you're trying to help me out. What about you?"

"I thought Zach talked to you about it," Krystal said, eyebrows furrowed in, what was that, concern? Was she actually concerned? Oh, that was touching. Or it would have been if her statement hadn't confused me.

I titled my head. "Zach? He didn't do anything of the sort."

"Really?" Krystal asked. "I thought he was…" Her face turned a shade of red a tad brighter than the flush caused by the exposure to steam. "I could h-have sworn that you two were… were, well, um… v-very, uh, very close?"

"W-What?" I sputtered, completely caught off-guard. She didn't need to say what she really meant. Gods, was that what people thought? That he and I were a _couple_? Gods. "I, wha—where did you get that idea?" I knew I was blushing furiously. How quickly I lost my cool…

"W-well, whenever the others teased him about how much time he spent with you, he would get really defensive and his cheeks would get all red. We just assumed that he had a crush on you, at the very least."

"And you teased him about it?" I only mentioned that part mostly because it was weird to think about Zach having a crush on me. It was flattering, and he was nice, but I… I really needed more sleep. My heart was racing and my cheeks were rosy—I was getting far too flustered over something so simple. "I can't believe this. That's why he's been so evasive, lately!"

"I-I'm sorry," Krystal said, looking back up. Her hands were covering her face, but I could tell that her face was as red as mine. To the side, Cordelia was watching with fascination and a faint smile.

"What are you smiling at?" I snapped, clenching my hands into fists at my side. I probably would have looked more threatening with a weapon in my hand or, you know, clothes on, but dammit, I was embarrassed! A problem that was only furthered when Cordelia put her hands up in mock surrender while holding back laughter.

Meanwhile, Krystal's face was going redder by the second as I stormed out of the water with my face buried in my hands. I could not remember being so embarrassed during my time with the Shepherds. I didn't even know why I was embarrassed! I wasn't interested in Zach like that anyway! "Go get some sleep, Robin," Cordelia said, her voice cheeky.

I wanted to form a coherent, reasonable, snarky response to shut her up. In my eagerness to leave this embarrassment, I hurried out of the bathhouse. I didn't bother pulling on my clothes or slipping on my cloak, instead wrapping a towel around myself before storming out.

Once I had left their presence—though I was sure they were still laughing about it at my expense—I cooled off a bit. I was just tired and thinking unclearly. Probably sat in the steam for too long, as well. But now my mind was clear. At least, as clear as it could be after having been up for two days straight. I knew I needed to talk to Zach and at least clear some things up. If I had time, I would get after Krystal, Robert and the others about teasing him for having a crush, if he even did. I saw nothing wrong with a bit of teasing, but if it affected him enough that he wanted to keep away from me as a result, then that was going too far.

I had gotten lucky in the halls so far. I had yet to see a single soul since leaving the bathhouse and had almost gotten back to my room when that very luck ran out. Rounding the corner, I ran into the person who was simultaneously the first and last person I wanted to see and almost dropped my clothes in the process. "Zach," I breathed, holding a hand to my chest. He had startled me. "What's going on?"

"Nothing really," he said, scratching the back of his head. He looked down a bit before suddenly jerking his head back up and whirling around to see if anyone was behind him. When he saw that no one was there, he looked back to me, but his eyes were pointed directly at mine. "I was just heading to the bathhouse"—he gestured to the towel tucked under his arm—"and it looks like you were just there." A blush gently coloured his face, and I found an odd amusement from it considering mine had died down not long ago. "Is anyone else in there, or am I clear?"

"Krystal and Cordelia are still in there," I said. As much as I wanted to get back at the two of them for embarrassing me, this was not the way to go about it. I could come up with something better after I'd gotten more sleep, anyway. I smiled, until I noticed something strange about Zach's face. "Hey, are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. His eyes narrowed and he eyed me with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. "Why?"

"Your face is really red," I said, squinting. I leaned closer to get a better look and frowned. "Like, Cordelia's hair, red." The closer I got, the redder it became. I thought it was a blush at first, but his face kept brightening.

"I feel fine," he said, again. "What about you? Why do your eyes keep glazing over like that? Robin. Hey, Robin." His face suddenly had a very grave look to it. "Robin."

"Why do you keep saying my name? I'm right here." He was going crazy. Whatever was making his face red was doing something to his head. "Come on, we need to get you to a healer." I knew next to nothing about sandstorms aside from that overexposure to them was dangerous. This may have been a side effect, so he needed help.

Then I was at an angle, only held up from the floor by Zach having caught me. Did I fall? I didn't remember falling, or being caught. "Ooh…" The hallway was twisting and bending, and I reached a hand to clutch my head. What was happening?

"Robin?" Zach called, but his voice was distant, like Krystal's had during… when did I hear her like that? "Hey, hey, look at me." His voice was frantic now, panicked. I looked up at him and pulled myself to my feet. "Are you…?"

"I think… I think I'm alright." My eyes were clear, if a bit tired, but that was too be expected. Had I blacked out, if even for a few seconds? That seemed to be the only realistic assumption for how I ended up poised to fall on my face. Zach hovered nearby, hands outstretched in case I fell again. My lack of sleep was catching up to me. "Can you just help me get to my room? I think I just need to get some sleep."

"Robin…"

"Can you grab my clothes?" I said, pointing to the ground where they lay. "I must have dropped them." I didn't trust myself to try and bend down to grab them as I was, so I leaned against the wall to keep from passing out and falling while he helped pick up the bundled mess. "Thank you." He carried them under his arm and threw his towel over his shoulder. Remarkably, my own towel had not come undone. I imagined that that would have made quite a scene for any passersby, what with me unconscious and naked on the ground with Zach standing over me.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked, still keeping right beside me. I was almost certain that I was just exhausted, but could hear the doubt in his voice. "Your eyes kept glazing over, like every few seconds, and you were completely out of it."

"I'm just really tired," I said, rubbing at my eyes. "I'm sure of it." We arrived back at my room—it belonged to one of the higher up officers stationed here, so he had his own room. Chrom and I figured it was best that he and I had our own rooms, even if that wasn't the case of every Shepherd.

I unlocked the door and pushed it open with an extended yawn. The bed looked as inviting as a full-course meal after starving for a week. I was drawn towards it and collapsed onto it with a sigh of relief. As soon as I hit the sheets, I was out.

 **Ω:**

When I woke up, I was so dazed that I almost panicked. I had no idea where I was at first, but when my vision cleared and I remembered that this was my room, I calmed down and pushed myself into a sitting position. That was about all I could recall, however, from the night before. I had to just assume that I came back to my room and fell asleep. I had to have gone to the bath at some point, considering the towel, but that was logical speculation.

The only light in the room was coming from the window, though it was thankfully covered by a curtain. Some point during the night, my towel had come undone. I looked around the plain room for my clothes, then found them folded on the chair by my bed. My mind was still groggy, but I slipped into my clothes and left the room. I left my cloak, though. It was the middle of the day, so the desert would be sweltering.

I turned the handle to open my door and found it locked. Strange. I didn't usually lock my doors, in the event that one of the Shepherds needed something, but I must have this time. I didn't usually sleep without clothes on, either, but here I was. Nevertheless, I unlocked the door and stepped out.

It was brighter in the hall, with windows lining the walls in oppose to the single window in my room. That was the first thing I noticed. The second was the emptiness of the halls. I had been in this building a short time, but the halls looked like they were supposed to be filled throughout the day. Seeing them empty like this felt wrong.

The third and final thing I noticed was the scent of food flowing through the garrison. It enticed me, appealing to my poor, empty stomach. I followed the smell to the best of my ability and found out why the halls were so empty.

Everyone was sitting in the mess hall and Stahl was cooking. I took a moment to wonder when they had bothered to set up a mess hall or if it was like this before we got here. Either way, the room was in nice condition and filled with not only the delicious scent of a fresh-cooked meal courtesy of Stahl, but the rambunctious and renewed energy of the Shepherds that I had come to be accustomed to before venturing into this desert. I smiled at the sight and walked to grab myself a plate.

As I loaded up on food, Lissa bumped into my shoulder as way of greeting. Though she had a cheerful smile on her face, I could tell that her sister's impending execution date was getting to her. She looked almost as sleepless as I had been.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" the princess asked, loading up her own plate. I gave her a peculiar look, in part because of how little food she had taken. I was more confused at her question. It seemed like more than just a greeting. How did I feel?

"I feel fine," I said suspiciously. "Why would I not?" My sleep-muddled mind was clouding something, I knew. Either that, or I had been acting off-kilter and she just thought to bring it up. Considering how little we'd talked over the past few days, however, I was led to lean toward the first option.

"Zach said last night that he had to help you back to your room last night," she said. I resisted the urge to snap my fingers and say 'That's right!' "He said you fell over and were out of it when he talked to you. You said you were just tired, apparently. If I remember correctly, one of the books I read a long time ago mentioned that disorientations and moments where you kind of black out, so that could very well have been the case. Still, we should keep an eye on you just in case."

"Alright, thank you." I said, and it made sense. I didn't remember blacking out, but I did remember almost falling and the disorientation was definitely there. Still, I had to make a jab at her to try and keep the mood light. "I didn't know you could read." I had to take a look around to make sure Frederick wasn't watching first.

She rolled her eyes and smiled, bringing a bit of life back to her face in spite of the bags that hung under her eyes. "Of course I can read. Back when I was training to be a healer with Maribelle, we had to study up on different illnesses and other ailments so we knew how to treat them."

"Good to know," I said and returned her smile. "I'll talk to you if anything comes up again." We waved and parted, with each of us walking to different sides of the room. At the corner of the room, I saw Zach sitting by Dylan and Emile. Krystal

"Hey," I said, walking up. They stopped talking and looked up at me when I got there.

Zach looked up, as I was walking up behind him. "Oh, hey, Robin. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," I said, pulling up a seat next to him. "I _was_ just tired, after all. And I'm assuming it was you who locked my door and covered the window?"

"Yeah, I figured you would prefer it that way, considering, well, you know."

"Right." I noticed then the confused expressions on the others' faces. We left that exchange pretty open ended, with a very ambiguous word choice. Krystal was looking the other way, however, shielding her face. I held back a smile at that. The way we said it, our words could have been interpreted as mentioning something less than wholesome.

"What are you guys talking about?" Dylan asked. His face was the only one devoid of expression, instead holding a stoic air with crossed arms. "Did something happen?"

Zach took it upon himself to explain. All the better, since I was barely lucid through all of it. "Last night, she almost fell down in the hall. We were talking, and her eyes kept glazing over, like she was staring off into space. I tried calling her name, but she never responded." He turned to me with an absurd expression. "You thought my face was red or something." I shrugged, and he turned back to the others. "Then she fell. I caught her, she snapped out of it, and I helped her back to her room." Back to me. "You fell asleep as soon as you hit the mattress, so I left pretty much right away. I mean, I stayed behind to make sure you were still breathing and shit, then covered the window and locked the door as I left." Just as he began to turn away, he snapped, remembering something. "That reminds me. Gaius showed up just as I was leaving, saying he had something to talk to you about. Wouldn't tell me what about, but said he'd check with you later."

"Oh, alright." I said, surprised. What had Gaius… oh. I understood after a moment of thought. That explained why he wouldn't tell Zach. "I'll talk to him, then." I tried to keep my expression cheerful in spite of this news. Gaius had been skulking around, and clearly he'd found something.

"And you're all right?" Robert asked, his mouth full.

"Yes. I feel fine now, and my symptoms were not uncommon for someone with as little sleep as I'd gotten." I left out the 'no sleep for two whole days' detail. It would spark a conversation that I really did not want to get into right now. I hurried to finish my food, using the excuse that I was really hungry, and told Zach I wanted to talk to him later before leaving. I wanted him to answer a few questions before I talked to Gaius.

Anyway, that was more than enough of that for now. I wanted to use this town to rest and plan, and I had already done one of those goals for today. I still needed to plan my approach for disrupting the execution. I had three days left to do it, but I would.

 **Krystal POV:**

"Krystal?" I heard a voice at my door. Chrom's voice. The last person—well, not the _last_ person I expected to see, but far from the first. I hadn't been expecting anybody anyway. I got up from my bed and slipped my bookmark into my tome. Waiting outside my door, Chrom had a look of uncertainty on his face. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," I said, offering to let him in.

Instead, he shook his head. "No, it's fine. This will be quick. I'm just wondering if… well, do you remember way back in Ferox? When we recruited you?"

I hesitated, then nodded. I was half-worried, half-curious about where he was going with this. Considering how short-tempered he'd been lately… no, that was a baseless worry. He wouldn't do anything of that sort. "Y-yes, I don't think I'll ever forget that place. It was awful in that dungeon."

"Alright. You know that they captured you because they believed you to be Plegian, yes?" I nodded again. Where was he going with this? "They thought you teleported behind the Longfort somehow. I didn't really think such a thing was possible until Flavia mentioned it. I remember back when I was still being tutored history, back when this was Archanea and Valm was split into two nations, there used to be woman with great magic power called witches. They were able to teleport, too, so I started thinking… I'll get straight to the point." He took a deep breath and looked at me with serious eyes, intimidating enough to make me forget how offensive it was for him to compare me to a witch. "Do you or do you not have the power of teleportation?"

I hesitated for a moment. I had somehow not seen the question coming, even after all of his leading into it. "I… N-no, I don't."

His expression softened, his eyes sad and pleading now. "Please, Krystal." He grabbed my hand and cupped it with both of his. "I won't tell anybody if you can or not, I just want to know if you have a way to save my sister sooner. I will give you almost anything."

 _Oh, Chrom…_ I so badly wanted to help him. No one deserved to lose their sibling, especially in such a way that he was to lose Emmeryn. I could help him, too, if not in a more effective way than how he wanted. I had the knowledge to warn him of what would happen. But I couldn't tell him. I knew that some of the others, mainly Dylan, wanted to keep our path through this world as close to canon as possible. So I couldn't help him.

I grabbed Chrom's hand, as well and looked up into his eyes. "I'm sorry, Chrom. I am so sorry, but I am no witch. I cannot help you."

A range of emotion flashed through his eyes, then he closed them and his hands tightened around mine, almost to the point of pain. I was half of a second away from telling him to let go when he suddenly pulled away, his eyes settling on 'hurt'. "Ah, I'm sorry." He touched my hand with more care this time. "I'm sorry for bothering you. Thank you anyway."

"Chrom, wait." He was hurting. He wasn't as irritated as he had been lately, but he was hurting. Even I could see that. He stopped and turned around. I was uncomfortable starting up a conversation, especially about a serious issue, but my worry drowned the discomfort out. My voice was quiet, but I concentrated to keep it steady as I asked him, "Are you alright?"

He said nothing, letting his gaze linger while I stared back. When I realized he was going to say nothing back, rather waiting for me to explain my question. I cleared my throat and stood up straight, having leaned out the door to catch his attention. "L-lately you've been a bit, erm, off. You haven't been talking to much of anybody or doing anything, but when you do, you are snappy and short-tempered. I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but I have. Something is wrong."

He gave me a tired smile and shook his head. "Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine. If you can't help, then I'll be on my way." With that, he left, and I could do nothing but watch his departing form. I wanted to call after him, but by the time I thought of anything relevant to say he was already too far to hear me without my chasing after him.

I felt horrible. That parting smile was what tugged at my heart the most, and I almost cracked. But I now knew that I needed to speak with Dylan and the others. I had made up my mind, and I wanted to save the Exalt.

 **Robin POV:**

I knocked on Zach's door three times. As cold as desert nights got, I had my cloak back on. The garrison was warmer than outside, however, so I left it unbuttoned as I walked through the halls. Zach opened a few seconds after I stopped knocking. "Good evening," I said, flashing him a brief smile. "May I come in?"

"Sure," he said, confused as to why I was here no doubt. I had told him I'd wanted to talk with him when we ate earlier, but he had forgotten. "What's up?"

"There are just a few things I wanted to talk to you about."

"You mentioned that at lunch today," he said, sitting down on a chair, which I took to mean that I was to sit on the bed. So he _did_ remember. "Well, whenever you're ready, go for it."

Where to start? "Well, I suppose that all of my questions really tie into one another. Last night—before you found me, mind you—I was talking to Krystal and Cordelia. We talked for a little while, mostly them scolding me for not getting enough sleep, but then Krystal said something that caught my attention. Apparently," I was a bit sassy as I said the word, considering how ridiculous this small rumour was, "she and some 'we', which I took to mean Dylan, Emile, and Robert, have us pegged as being a couple." He stared at me blankly, though a frown marred his face. "You… don't seem very surprised by that."

"Well, they tease me all the time about how much time we spend together," he said, shrugging. "Didn't really figure they thought that far into it, though. I just thought it was a joke they liked to play on me, even if it is a bit stale at this point."

"And you never thought to mention it to me?" I asked, crossing my arms. I wasn't mad, really, nor was I surprised. Still worth an ask, though. He shrugged again. "Besides, we haven't even talked much in some time."

"Haven't we?"

"No, we've hardly spoken a word to each other since we left the first oasis, bar tonight and last." Now I was confused. This was the part that confused him? It was obvious if one put even an inkling of a thought into it.

"I…I'm sorry, I guess. I just didn't notice."

"You didn't notice?" I scowled, and he shrugged once more. "You weren't avoiding me or anything?"

"No, of course not. Not intentionally, at least."

"Oh." Why had I thought that? It was a possibility, but the chances of it being the truth was minute. "I assumed that you had been avoiding me either because of their cheering or because you had a crush on me or something." I said it nonchalantly, but a thought struck as soon as it left my lips. "You… You don't have a crush on me, do you?"

"Um, no?" he said, either unconfident in his answer or finding my question tedious and ludicrous. I leaned toward the latter. His eyes were narrowed into a full scowl at this point. "Where did you get that idea?"

 _Krystal_. "I don't know, just figured I would check." I was relieved he'd said no, to be frank, though I kept that detail to myself. He would have no use of it, and could take offense. That said…

"Yeah, I mean don't get me wrong," he said, holding out his hands. "You're fuckin' sauce, but I don't have a crush on you." What did he call me?

"What?"

"What?"

"What did you call me? Sauce?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. It means, like, really good. I was saying you look great, essentially." He looked away sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, just slang from my, uh, my home." _Oh_. Interesting. Confusing, but interesting.

"Oh, thanks, then. And, just to clarify," I said, standing up and holding a hand out for pause. "You don't have any sort of crush on me?

"No," he said, standing up as well and dusting himself off. He was smiling now, something I was grateful for. "I promise you that I don't."

"Alright. I don't want to be left in the dark on this kind of thing," I said. Then an idea came to mind and I turned back around to look at him, my hand having been inches from the doorknob. "Hey, if they keep teasing you and stuff, come tell me. We'll plan some prank on them or something funny. Get back at them, you know?"

He laughed, a slight chuckle. "I think that would be awesome. I'll let you know if that happens."

"Good," I said, unable to help my own smile. "I will talk to you later, then." He waved, and I stepped out of the room. _Sauce_. What a strange term. How had it come to mean that? I wondered. On my way back to my own room, the word echoed through my head.

My night of talking was not done, though, and the word was soon chased from my thoughts. As I rounded a corner, I caught a certain red-headed thief waltzing down the hall with his hands behind his head. I sighed, almost disappointed to have to talk some more. It had taken up my entire day, what with discussing tactics or talking to Robert about Cordelia or talking to Zach moments before. But this was important, and I was glad to have gotten to talk to Zach and Robert before whatever Gaius had to report.

So, I cleared out my throat and called his name, then waved him over the way I was going.

 **Krystal POV:**

I was on my way to talk to Dylan, Emile, and Robert. I hadn't gotten around to it last night due to how tired I was, the weariness brought on by the stress caused by Chrom. I worried about him when he was like this. It seemed like uncharacteristic impatience that I'd been witnessing, but then he did show spouts of anger in-game, so…

Nevertheless, I needed to talk to the other earthlings. I wanted to help Chrom, and the only way I saw to do that and spare him from further emotional distress was to save Emmeryn. We all knew that Robin's plan would not work, what with the unforeseeable foul play on Aversa's part, and we could do something about it. We could plan around Aversa's interference, or let Robin know and have her find a way to deal with the Risen, or…

No, I had to save my arguments for when I actually talked to them. Right now, I had to work myself up into a fighting spirit. Otherwise, my own confidence in an argument was not something to be counted on. I was taking deep breaths and whispering small quotes of encouragement that I remembered from home when I heard something unexpected.

"Chrom, I'm trying to come up with something as quickly as I can! I want the Feroxi at our backs just as much as you do, but they aren't here." It was Robin's voice, muffled by the thick walls but still very understandable due to how loud she was shouting. "We need to deal with things on our own, and unless you have something to offer, you need to leave because I will not have you yelling at me while I'm—Chrom! Chrom, get—"

The door to the room slammed open and the prince stormed out and slammed the door behind him, shaking the hall while his hands clenched in rage at his sides. I let out a squeak and tucked myself behind, well, it was really just a dip in the wall. It was big enough to fit me, though, and I used it to hide from the furious prince as he stalked past me. His face was contorted in anger so fierce, I could barely comprehend how he felt.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that," I heard Robin say, her tone solemn and tired. I wondered who she was talking to now that Chrom was gone while the door drifted open, the prince having broken the latch. "I just wish he would understand that I'm doing the best I can."

 **Zach POV:**

"I just wish he would understand that I'm doing the best I can," Robin said, leaning forward on the large table in the middle of the war room. I was standing off to the side, arms crossed as I leaned against the wall, but I'd seen the entire thing. "He's not the only one who wants to save Emmeryn. But that's how he acts. He thinks that he is the only one affected by Emmeryn or her absence. If she dies—gods forbid that be the case, but if she dies, he will be far from the only one broken."

She pushed off the table and began pacing the room, clutching at her head. "He is so gods-damned narrow minded that he can't see outside of what is directly in front of him! He's been wallowing in his own worry and self-pity, but do you know what I've been doing? Since we left for Castle Plegia, I've been checking up on the Shepherds after each fight or during the march and asking them how they were doing.

"Vaike—you know what Vaike told me? He told me that when he was a kid, he lived in the slums, stealing and causing trouble with everybody. But then Emmeryn came to his town. With just a few calm, inspiring words, he said she turned his whole life around. He left his town and moved to Ylisstol to start learning how to fight and defending his country and family. He is just one person, but if someone can flip your whole outlook on life, then they are the greatest of diplomats and speakers. Emmeryn is one of those people. With that skill, Vaike must be far from the only person positively affected by her. And if she dies? Would they all more on with their lives, hardly a care for their benevolent exalt's death? No, they would grieve. They would grieve because she is a blessing to them and helped rebuild their country after the last war with Plegia ravaged it."

I watched her calmly, not surprised by her outburst, considering how explosive Chrom's had been. This was the first tactic meeting I'd joined in on, but Chrom had seemed too tense for it to be just caused by today's discussion.

"Yet Chrom doesn't know that. He doesn't take into consideration how anybody else views our circumstances. He hasn't even talked to his little sister who is going through _the exact same thing_ as him in days." I hadn't noticed any of this. I had done much of the same thing, though I suspect for an entirely different reason. If I would have known… I liked to think that I would have at least checked in on the others. Gods.

"—seems to think that I haven't been doing anything, either." The first complaint Chrom vented in his temperamental explosion was how little Robin had done in the past few days in spite of how close Emmeryn's execution date was. His shouting had startled both of us, at first. As had the way he shook the room when he slammed the door. "But he hasn't been watching. I've been working myself ragged, Zach." She leaned forward on the table again, this time facing directly at me. "Before you found me and helped me to my room the other—what was it, last night? Whenever it was. I wasn't _just tired_. I was blacking out because I hadn't slept for two days, all while marching and fighting and talking to the other damned Shepherds!" Her voice had risen back to a shout.

"Two days?" I breathed. "Robin, what…?"

"Because the Shepherds needed me!" She jammed her thumb back at herself, her face beat red from frustration. "They needed me, and they need him, but he is too damn daft to see that. If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't have made it this far. I coordinated our route to be as fast as possible while still keeping us in minimal danger. _I_ planned each attack to keep minimal injuries and casualties, even before we came to this gods-forsaken desert to look for _his_ sister. And look! We haven't lost a single life, even if we came a bit close. _I_ stayed up for two nights straight to cover his messes while he hid in his tent because he was too much of a coward to face his fear and doubt. But _I've_ done too little."

She scoffed and ran a hand through her hair before tearing off her coat and throwing it on the floor. She let out a long, guttural groan and began to pace the perimeter of the room. I moved out of her way to pick up her coat and set it over the back of a chair.

"I'm tired and I want to sleep, but apparently I'm not doing enough, so I need to skip out on my own rest so he can sleep easy." I heard her sniff and looked back at her. She was facing away from me, but her arm was up, rubbing across her face.

"Are you crying?" I asked, walking up behind her.

"I'm just…" She wiped at her eyes again. "I can't deal with him anymore. I'm tired and agitated." I didn't know what to do. I was terrible around crying people. I never knew what to do. What could I do? But she wasn't sad, was she? Just angry. Angry to the point of tears.

The only thing I could think to say was, "Do you want a hug?"

She froze, staring at me for a moment of two before bursting into a fit of tearful laughter. I frowned, but she wiped away her tears. "No, I don't. I'm not sad."

"I know, but you don't need to be sad to want a hug." I said. "I want a hug all the time and I'm never sad."

"If you say so," she said, shaking her head. We stood silently for a long while, just the occasional glance between us. After a time, I offered to help her in any way that she needed-be it tactics, talking to the other Shepherds, or anything else. Gods knew I had nothing else to do until the execution. She didn't accept my offer, however, instead scowling and frowning. "Hey, um, there is something I need to tell you. Do you remember a while back, when we were in Ferox, I think? I said that I had a strange feeling about you?"

"Umm…" Despite her tone, this didn't sound good. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, I felt the same thing when we saw Robert the first time that I did I saw you, Emile, and the others. I admit," she said, looking away, "it worried me. I trust you, but the others… Well, it's clear that they tend to stay apart from the rest of the Shepherds, but I know that some people are just introverted. Still, I couldn't just leave this feeling. I was worried, so I told Gaius to keep of Dylan, Krystal, and Emile."

Her eyes were suddenly serious, but I didn't know why. I scowled, thinking about what those three could have possibly done to make her so serious. "Okay? I think that's reasonable to do." _So why are you so grim_?

"Well Gaius reported something last night. In that night just before crossing into the desert, he saw those three and Robert sneak into the nearby town. They got a room at an inn and left shortly after and snuck, one by one, back into camp. They talked about having you to get in my good graces and influence how I guided the Shepherds."

"What?"

"They wanted you to use how close we were. To use me.""

"That's ridiculous," I said, but the way she looked at me and hugged her arms to her stomach said otherwise. A dry laugh escaped my lips. "You can't believe that."

"I don't want to believe it," she said. "I really don't, but that's what Gaius heard. That's what they said, and you were the one who convinced me to let them into the Shepherds." The next part was unspoken. _You used me_.

"I can't believe this." I ran a hand through my hair, my heart aching, tears burning in my eyes. I wasn't sure if I was hurt or angry. Probably both. "You think I'm using you? You honestly think that?" I suddenly felt very hot. "I joined the Shepherds at the same time as you, and I'd never met you before."

"How do I know that?" she asked. "I have no memories. As far as I know, you could all be people from my past out to get me. You could have had this whole thing planned out before we met."

"You sound fucking crazy, Robin. I'd never even talked to any of them before they joined." She was just pulling this shit out of her ass. This was absolute fucking bullshit. Why would I try to use her? What the fuck? I was just as angry at the other guys from Earth, however, as I was at Robin for distrusting me. "I had no idea who they were."

"How do I know that?"

"I fought against Emile in the Arena, Robin!"

"That could have been planned," she said with a shake of her head. _Dammit, woman, why can't you just trust me? After all we've been through?_

"That was the first time I met him," I groaned running a hand down my face.

"Then why did you tell me to let him join?" she asked, tilting her chin up. "What did he say to you when I went to talk to Flavia?"

"I…" I couldn't tell her that. This looked bad. What did I tell her back then? _Motherfucking think, dammit!_ "I told you exactly what he said back then." I glared at her, which wasn't hard due to how angry I was. "His family was killed by Plegians, Robin. That's why I told you to let him join."

"What about Krystal? Or Dylan? Or Robert?" she asked, crossing her arms again.

"Dylan saved our lives," I said. I wanted to sit down, but my temper put an antsy energy in my legs, so I started to pace the room. "Krystal was falsely imprisoned by Raimi—"

"How did you know she was innocent?"

"Look at how meek she is!" I barked, stopping my restless feet. "All she does is hide in her fuckin' room and keep to herself! She's too scared to speak up for herself, but what, you think she has some secret plot to take over the Shepherds? You're fucking crazy, Robin," I said, jabbing my finger at her from across the table.

"And Robert? I didn't tell you to recruit him. You know who fucking did?" I jerked my thumb toward the wide open door. "Fresh Prince Chrom, out there! He paid him to join! I had no part in it because I was busy getting the shit kicked out of me by Dawn!"

"I…" She looked away, and I pushed off the table to start pacing again. I kept to my half of the room but kept my eyes locked on her the whole time. I watched her afflicted with what I hoped was shame and remorse. I wanted her to feel like shit.

"If they are doing something, I don't know a thing about it. I haven't talked to them in a long time, and even if I had, I would never use you, Robin. I can't believe that you think I would." I walked over to the door and grabbed the smashed handle. I could feel the tears threatening to spill from my eyes, and I wanted to leave before that happened. I didn't need her to pity me. "It hurts, Robin. It fucking hurts. Next time, use your fucking head a little before jumping to conclusions based on what a thief heard through a fucking wall."

With that, I left her to hopeful hurt and think about what she did, shutting the door behind me. I knew it would close because dumbass broke it, but I didn't care. I was just too tired or this shit to care.

 **Robert POV:**

I was bored. I had nothing to do but wait until the battle, so I was lying on my bed with one knee raised while I stared at the ceiling. I was letting my mind race, and I couldn't help but think of the coming battle. If I remembered correctly, we were going to recruit Tharja and Libra. But Emmeryn was going to die.

I'd been battling with that thought for the past few hours. I knew she died canonically, but I didn't know if I liked that idea. I mean, I had nothing against the Exalt, and Chrom and Lissa wanted her alive most definitely. And I kind of liked it here. It was a hell of a lot more interesting than home, anyway.

My thoughts were cut short as a set of three knocks hit against my door. I remained on my bed, however, calling, "Who is it?" I wasn't about to open my door for just any Shepherd. It was late for that, and I had no qualms about turning them away. My door was locked for a reason. I was surprised by who answered me.

"Cordelia."

"Oh, one sec." I slipped off my bed and unlocked the door. Outside was a faintly blushing Cordelia. "So, uh, what's up?" I kept my distance from her since she walked away from me during our guard shift, and we said nothing to each other between then and now. I was worried she was still angry with me, so I gave her space.

"I want to apologize. May I come in?"

"Yeah, sure." I stepped to the side and closed the door behind her. "You can sit wherever you want."

She chose to stand. "I don't think I'll be here long," she said. "I just want to let you know that I am not angry at you, nor should I have been in the first place. I had no right to be."

"No, listen, I understand. You were still grieving, in a way, and I was insensitive with my words. You don't need to apologize." It was good to hear that she was no longer upset with me, though. Put a part of my heart at ease.

"But I do. I know that it is reasonable to upset when dealing with these kinds of things, but I did not need to burden you with my troubles like that. And for that, I apologize." She was calm in her delivery, knight-like but less than stoic. Professional.

"Well, thank you, I guess. And in return, I have an apology of my own." I sat down backwards on my chair and crossed my arms over the back of it. "I could have worded what I said better. You were upset, and I knew it."

"You were a bit blunt," she agreed with a chuckle. "But that's alright. I sense that it's just the way you are."

"Heh." I scratched the back of my head, glancing to the side. "That's not far off." Then I realized something—a gleam of silver amidst her red locks. "You're wearing your pins."

"I am." She smiled, her hand reaching up to rub a finger across the silver wing. "Like you said, you could have worded it better, but you were right. It would dishonor my fallen sisters if I let these pins sit in my bag for the rest of time. I want to show them the respect they deserve in this next battle, and I will do it as Pegasus Knight of Ylisse."

Her smile was bright and genuine—it warmed my heart to see her so happy. "Then I hope they are watching."

"As do I. Thank you, Robert. I will talk to you tomorrow. Be sure to get plenty of sleep, because tomorrow is going to be trying."

"Same to you," I said. "Good night, Cordelia."

She opened the door and went to the left. Right when she did, however, I heard a frightened yelp and a gasp from Cordelia. "O-Oh, I'm sorry,' came Krystal's voice as she spun past the leaving Cordelia. The dark mage stepped into my doorway with her eyes closed and a hand to her chest. When her eyes opened, her face went a bright red. "I-I don't mean to interrupt you so late, but we really need to have a meeting." Her voice was quiet, and she looked back out the door to make sure no one was listening when she said it. "I already talked to the others, and we're meeting in Emile's room."

We hurried to the lancer's room. She sounded urgent, and her hurried pace betrayed her short legs as we rushed through the halls. When we got there, Emile was sitting on his bed and Dylan was pacing the length of the small room. "So?" the laguz demanded when we entered, stopping to cross his arms and look down at Krystal. "Why did you call us all here? Based on your tone, it isn't just to discuss what we are going to do about the Exalt tomorrow."

The dark mage walked to the far side of the room and leaned against the wall. "I just heard Robin and Zach talking." I rolled my eyes, suppressing the urge to make a joke. Her expression was still grim, her face pale. I looked at Emile and Dylan to see them with narrowed eyes, hungry for more information. "They were arguing actually."

"Trouble in paradise?" I asked, the line slipping out before I could stop myself. "But you don't look like you witnessed a normal lovers' spat. What's up?"

"Robin knows we met up before coming into the desert." I froze at the news. She _knew_? How? We made sure we weren't… wait. "She said something about a strange feeling, and that she had Gaius tail us."

"Fuck," I cursed under my breath. That shadow that I saw slip out of view… "I knew I saw something, but dammit, I didn't think it was anything important."

"What else did she say?" Emile asked, his hands clasped in front of his face.

"Nothing else concerning us, really. Gaius heard us talking that night, too though, about using Zach to influence Robin's decisions. She got on him about that."

"We were joking about that," I murmured. "But I'm sure Gaius didn't know that."

"Zach started shouting around then, so I left."

"But she didn't say anything else about us?" Dylan asked. Krystal shook her head and he nodded. "Good. No use crying over spilled milk then. We should keep a better eye out for prying eyes, though. Now, we need to discuss tomorrow. Are we all agreed on letting the Exalt die?"

"No," Krystal and I said at the same time, both equally surprised with the other. It was unlike her to directly speak against somebody. In response, the laguz narrowed his eyes and urged us to explain. I could tell he was unhappy with our decision.

"Chrom is hurting," Krystal piped up, hugging her cloak to herself. "I can tell, and he'll get even worse if Emm dies. No one deserves to lose their sibling. But we can save her."

"I see how you think," Dylan said with a sage nod. "But I can't agree. We all know that he is fine after Emm dies. She doesn't even die, anyway. We find her over in Valm toward Endgame. Sorry. What's your excuse, Rob?"

"I could care less about Chrom, honestly. I just want to save Emm. It doesn't matter to me if it breaks canon and keeps us stuck here. I like it here more than home." Not the most convincing excuse, as he put it, but it was how I felt. I didn't want to go back if I had the choice.

"That's it?" His gaze was demeaning, and I felt insulted to have him looking at me like that. Then he shook his head. "Sorry, but no. I don't care if you want to stay here, I'm getting home. I'm not taking any chances when it comes to that."

"I'm sorry," I said, temper rising, "but what gives you the authority to decide that? We outnumber you in votes, here. It isn't solely up to you to decide."

"I do not care," the laguz repeated. "I am going home, regardless of what you want. This isn't up for debate."

"Then why bother asking?" Krystal scowled.

"I wanted to know what you thought, and was sure we were all on the same page. But now I see where we stand, and I am going to tell you that you are not keeping me here."

"You can't just take control like this." His voice was scolding, almost parental. I was not going to take disrespect like that, especially from someone smaller than me. "I won't let you."

"You won't stop me," he replied, uncrossing his arms and stepping forward with a glare. "I'm going home." I stepped forward, as well, undaunted by his attempted intimidation.

"Guys."

"What are you going to do, asshole? Fight me? You can't transform in here." Step.

"Guys!"

"I don't need to transform to kick your ass." Step.

"GUYS!" Emile came between us and shoved us apart, then stepped between us. We had been nearly face to face. "Calm the hell down! You aren't going to fight in here, or anywhere. You'll cause a scene, and then what'll we do? We'll be in real deep shit. _Get_ —" he shoved us back again, as we both took a step toward each other. "Get back! We can settle this civilly. Robert. Let us get home. In the event that it comes to us leaving here, I'm sure you can choose to stay here. If not, then we'll figure something out. And Krystal, Chrom will be fine. We know it. He is strong enough, and we can help him through. And Dylan, you need to calm the fuck down. I agree with you—I want to go home, too—but you can't be starting shit in my room."

"I… I suppose you're right," Krystal said, sulking. I could see that she was disappointed. My own temper was cooling, as well.

"Yeah, sure." I said, turning to leave. "Whatever, I guess we'll let the Exalt jump to her death. Just know that you could have stopped this." I shut the door behind me and said a silent prayer to Naga or whatever gods Frederick talked about in his crit quotes.

 **Ω:**

"Are you all ready?" Virion asked in a whisper. He had an arrow knocked and ready. He, Donnel, Cordelia and I were all crouched at the crest of a hill with our weapons in hand. We left the town at dawn, and some of the townspeople we'd talked to had said that the execution was scheduled for sunset, so we had ample time to finish our own mission in preparation for Robin's plan.

I still had my issues with letting Emm die, but it was out of my control at this point. I had no way to interfere at the moment without unnecessary casualties.

The captured Pegasus Knights were held in a small outpost off to the west of the Capital, and Robin sent us here to set them free. Virion had come along not only to lead, but to inform Phila and the others about Robin's plan. Donnel was here because the kid was honestly a beast on the battlefield, according to the tactician, and Cordelia had asked Robin personally to come along for this. I assumed she wanted to prove herself, and Robin slapped me along with them for a little diversity in weaponry.

"Yeah," I muttered, running a finger along my sword. "I'm set."

"As am I," said the red-haired Pegasus knight.

"Let's go," came Donny's drawling voice.

"Very well," the archer nodded, then waved us forward. "Let us begin."

We slid down the hill and broke into a sprint. A few well-placed arrows by Virion took the sentries out of commission, and the other three of us broke in through the weathered fort's door. Inside was a crew of unsuspecting guards, though I had to admit that their reaction time was stunning. Their swords were drawn as soon as we burst in. Unfortunately, I had a furious Pegasus knight and a ferocious farm boy on my side. The soldiers were dead in seconds, several holes in their bodies.

"Nice," I said, dumbfounded at their efficiency. I had expected it to be quick, but damn. "Let's keep moving." Virion was keeping watch outside, as planned. If someone was alerted, then this plan was debunked. At the other end of the room, there were two sets up stairs going up and down. "Stay low."

We crept up the stairs, passing by a side door, and stopped at the next one. With my fingers, I counted down to breach. _1… 2… …3!_ I kicked in the door and the two of them charged in, Donny with an energetic "YEEEEEHAW!" I came in soon after them and found the room full of enemies more than doubling our numbers. At the far end of the room was a man in more elaborate armour and an axe strapped to his back with two myrmidons at his side.

"Shit," I cursed, running toward them. I felt an unfamiliar surge of energy within me, not unlike a boost of adrenaline. "Let's make some magic!"

 **?:**

I was so tired, but the capital was in sight! That sandstorm had been rough, but we made it through. Honestly, that had been the best part in the past few days. Since the sandstorm, we had lost more and more allies. At this point… it was just me and Mister Libra. I had tried to heal them, but the wyvern riders kept coming! They threw so many axes, and Asbel tried to hold them off while I healed with my staff.

He killed them all, but by the time he had, he was covered in so many lacerations and deep gashes that I was unable to heal him. I had no idea what it was that kept him going, but he refused to die until of the wyvern riders had joined him. Gods… who would attack simple clergymen like that? What kind of monster did it take? Yes, some of us were armed, but it was for protection against bandits, not…

I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced the thoughts away. It did no good to dwell on such thoughts. I had to remain strong, like Mister Libra. I kept my eyes on the city as the two of us got closer and closer. We had to save the Exalt, or convince the Mad King to let her free. But now, I had to doubt if he would even listen to reason. If someone was willing to send wyvern riders to kill a group of healers, then he had surely gone mad. Either that, or his twisted heart was too evil to do otherwise. I doubted the possibility of our mission, no matter how hard I tried to believe.

"Keep strong," Mister Libra said, as if sensing my doubt. He seemed to be privy to my doubts whenever I had them, always giving me helpful words or encouragement. I envied his fortitude and maturity. "We are almost there, Calliope."

"I hope so, Mister Libra." I truly did hope.

 **Robert POV:**

My blade dug into the captain's thigh, but he kicked out and pushed me away. His determination to keep fighting was admirable. Cordelia and Donnel were fighting off the myrmidons that had been at his side so I could take on the captain, utilizing our weapon advantages.

"Why won't you go down?" I growled, meeting his axe swing with the blade of my sword. I groaned and tried to punch at him, but he hopped back.

He came at me with a wide swing, but I was able to dodge out of the way and give a quick stab his way. He blocked the attack with his armoured gauntlet, so I spun around to strike from the other side. I dealt a short gash to his left arm, then received a punch from his armoured fist. My ears rang, and I stumbled back, slightly dazed.

The irony taste of blood entered my mouth, and I knew he split my lip. _Son of a bitch_. I stabbed at him, then slashed, then stabbed again in a frenzy. Behind me, I could hear Donnel struggling to fight off his swift foe.

Cordelia came in from the side to help me, having dealt with her own target, but I waved her off. "Go help Donnel!" I shouted, gritting my teeth as I blocked another heavy swing from the captain. He clearly didn't acquire his rank for free. He had the skill to back the title up.

"Right!"

The captain laughed, his voice hearty and reverberated inside his thick metal helmet. "Keeping the lady safe, eh, kid? Let's hope you can finish this yourself, then." Then he let out a roar and came at me again, though I was a little disconcerted at his heartiness.

I stepped out of the way of his falling axe and slashed at his gut. He seemed to like punching and kicking, too, unlike most fighters or barbarians I'd fought. Though with a helmet like that… Wait, was this guy a Warrior? Oh, shit! I was fighting a promoted unit!

I kept out of his range, then dove in for an attack whenever he missed. He was a beast, though, and kept fighting in spite of all of the bleeding wounds cut across his body. However, his vitality and fighting spirit could only go so far. When I cut across his legs, he dropped to his knees and propped himself up with his axe. He groaned, barely audible through his helmet. "Come on, kid. Finish me off, now." Then he looked up at me, and I could tell he was looking into my eyes. "There are worse ways to go out, are there not?"

I smiled a grim smile, and poised to stab him through the gut. He nodded, and I delivered the killing blow. It had been sometime since I'd killed someone, and it was weird to kill someone who seemed so willing to go down fighting. At least he was at peace.

"Alright," I said, wiping the blood off my sword and sliding it back into its sheathe. "It looks like the dungeons are in the basement. You guys go down there and break Phila and the others out. I'll go outside and look for the pegasi."

They nodded, and we all ran down the stairs. When they turned to descend further, however, I turned off to the side and went outside. The bright Plegian sun was unexpected, and I covered my eyes until they adjusted from the darkness inside the fort. I was sore everywhere from the captain, and I was pretty sure he broke my nose, but I snuck along the top wall. It circled around the main center of the base, but there was no one to be seen out here. I doubted that everybody stationed at this fort was confined to those little rooms, but perhaps Gangrel hadn't actually expected us to hit this place. We did hear about it from the Plegians we captured, after all, so it wasn't exactly public information.

I disregarded the absence of guards, but still kept a wary eye out as I searched for some sort of stables where the pegasi would be kept. Several shacks were scattered inside, though sand was swept up against them, forming dune-like slopes by each shack. One shack was bigger than the others, though, and by quite a significant amount. As I moved closer, I heard the snorting of a horse.

I sighed as I stepped through the open wall and found a collection of white winged horses. I found the Pegasi. "I'll be right back," I told them, raising a hand before stepping out of the stables. "I have to go get the others, but I bet you'll be happy to see some familiar faces." They snorted and stamped their feet, but barely regarded me otherwise.

I ran back to the door I came from and almost ran into Cordelia, who was coming out the very same one. "I found the pegasi," I breathed, jerking my thumb behind me. "Did you find the Knights?" She nodded, but her face was tense and serious. "What's wrong?"

"Some of them were already dead," she muttered, but let the remaining Pegasus Knights past. I pointed them to the large shack where their steeds were held while staying behind with Cordelia.

"How?" I asked, my tone soft. We both knew this was a possibility, but had hoped against it.

Phila was the one to answer my question, coming outside last. "Infection," she said. Her hair was no longer in its tight bun, but loose over her shoulders. She didn't look too well off herself, with a few bandaged cuts and the smell of death thick on her. I kept those two facts to myself. "Their injuries from the siege grew infected, and the guards here had no interest in treating them. Gangrel's orders, I suppose."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said. "But as far as I can tell, your mounts were well kept. They look as ready to fly as ever."

Her smile was pained, forced. "Good. Now Cordelia mentioned a plan?"

"Go greet your pegasi," I said. "I'll wave Virion over so he can explain it." She nodded and walked past. Cordelia followed her with her eyes, but sighed. "Where is Donnel?"

"Coming."

I hummed, then leaned over the edge of the wall and whistled as loud as I could to get Virion's attention. When he looked over, I waved for him to come in and he began to make his way toward us. "We'll mourn them more later, Cordy. For now, we have a plan to enact."

 **Krystal POV:**

The squadron of Pegasus Knights landed beside our hideout about a mile from the city. Phila and Cordelia rode in the lead, with Virion and Robert riding behind them on their respective pegasi. I wondered where Cordelia had gotten her own Pegasus, but kept from asking. She did not look to be in the mood to talk.

Robin explained the rest of the plan to Phila and the other Pegasus Knights, then we waited and made sure our weapons were in peak condition for the last few hours until sunset was nearly upon. At that point, we marched our way toward the Castle Courtyard. Grima's skull rested nearby, standing far taller than the castle itself. It was a terrifying sight, and made me fear for when he—or she—inevitably woke up. The dragon was mountainous up close.

When we were near the courtyard walls, we could hear Gangrel's bellowing voice as he addressed the attending soldiers. "Good people! Warriors of Plegia! Welcome! Welcome, one and all! Your anticipation electrifies the air! We ALL remember the crimes of Ylisse." His tone turned to one of disgust, but his foul voice did not decrease in volume. "Would you have their witch-queen answer for the them? Here?" A pause, and then the roaring cheers of a gathered crowd. Their eagerness for bloodshed and repentance was frightening. "Today? NOW? YEEEEEEEEEEEEEES! Finally, we will have JUSTICE!" A pause, and I looked up to where Emmeryn stood. Creeping up the ledge behind her was a barbarian with a large axe.

"EXECUTIONER!" Gangrel screamed. "If you would be so kind…"

"Virion!"

"Right!" The archer let fly his arrow, and it soared through the air until it stuck itself in the executioner's chest, knocking him from the perch. As he fell, Robin's voice cut through the now silent air.

"Now move!"

Robin had anticipated that wyvern riders would be coming in from the North, so she kept Virion and RIcken at the back so they could dispatch of them before they got the chance to disrupt the rest of her plan. Sumia and Cordelia soared high into the sky, and our large collection of swordsmen charged straight ahead. The more fragile among us, myself included, stuck behind the more armoured Shepherds, like Frederick and Kellam.

I ran behind the tall, stealthy knight, using my magic to give him a boost through the loose sand until we made it to firmer ground. "We'll keep moving ahead," he said, and I nodded.

A wyvern rider tried to dive down at Lissa, who was riding with Frederick, but I intercepted him with a shot of Flux. His mount let out a wicked scream as it died and crashed into the sand far behind us, knocking up a cloud of sand and dust. The healer flashed me a thumbs-up and urged Frederick forward. I did the same with Kellam.

Vaike cut down one of the soldiers in our way, then Robin blasted the second with a bolt of Thunder while Chrom cleaved an archer in half. There were still a few lancers in our way, but Frederick and Vaike were making quick work of them. Further south was a long fort, and west of that was another group of Plegians surrounding two people who looked to be dressed in healer garb.

I didn't get the chance to seize a good look at them, as two soldiers came at Kellam. While one kept him busy, the other snuck around to try and stab me. The Knight pushed his shield over to protect me, but suffered a stab from the first soldier. He pummeled the second one with his shield, and I knocked the other high into the air with Flux.

Still atop the roost, Emmeryn stood and overlooked the battlefield as soldiers mobilized inside. I wondered if she could see us down here. Then I saw the wide-brimmed hat of a mage come stepping around the main wall, a charge of Fire already burning and ready to be shot.

"Kellam!" I cried, stepping in front of him to take the hit. The fireball was larger than I had expected, leading me to believe it was something stronger, like Elfire, after I was thrown into Kellam's armoured body. My head rang, having collided with the thick metal plates, and he threw his javelin to kill the mage.

"Are you alright?" he asked, helping me to my feet. Oof… that hurt. The fire wasn't so bad. My resistance must have been high enough to neutralize most of the damage, but hitting against his armour was jarring.

"Yes, I think so." Over the wall a pair of wyvern riders flew, and then a third heading toward where those two healers still were. I followed its path to see that one of the healers was brandishing a massive axe, swinging it about to strike down their opponents. Chrom was making his way toward them, but I didn't know if he would make it before the wyvern rider. "Try and take him down," I said to Kellam, pointed to the wyvern and shooting at it with Flux.

I missed, but Kellam's javelin pierced its wing and sent it spiraling to the ground. "I'll keep those two over there covered," he said, readying another javelin. "You go around the corner and help the others."

I was hesitant, but went anyway. I rounded the corner to see Zach and Lon'qu clashing with a wyvern rider and lancer respectively, while Robin dueled at a range against an archer. Then I saw a woman in very little clothing and a purple tome in her hand. She was fixated on watching Robin fight, unmoving as the battle went on. I drew closer, recognized her as Tharja.

When I got close, however, she was snapped from her trance and magic circles began to swirl around her as she aimed a shot of whatever tome that was at me. I dove out of the way and picked myself up to avoid her next shot. "Wait!" I said, throwing my hands up but still running to the side. "Wait, please! I don't want to fight you!"

"Then you shouldn't have gotten close," she countered, putting her purple tome away and pulling out a yellow one.

"Why are you even fighting?" I cried, blocking the large bolt of Thunder that came at me with a charge of Flux.

That caught Tharja's attention, and she paused her assault. "You're a dark mage?" she asked, lowering her tome. "That is interesting."

"Can you let me talk?" I asked, closing my tome as a sign of peace. I hoped I wouldn't regret that.

"I suppose I can give you a moment to explain why you sided with the Ylisseans."

"They rescued me from a Feroxi dungeon," I said, not daring to move closer. I was wary of her, in spite of her wide smile. "And let me join because of how uncommon dark mages were outside of Plegia."

"They let you join just like that?" she asked, smile dropping from her face. Her eyes drifted over to where Robin was. The tactician had switched to her sword, getting close to the archer she'd been fight and chasing after him in a series of slashes and stabs. "Do you think they would be willing to let me join, as well? Dark mages like ourselves are serious boons, as I'm sure you know."

"I can't say for sure, but maybe if you talk to Robin over there." I pointed to the tactician, and Tharja's face lit up. I made a note to apologize to Robin later for what I sent her way. I sighed and dusted myself off, sand covering my clothes after dodging the dark mage's continuous attacks.

This battle was almost over.

 **Robert POV:**

I ran fairly close to Chrom, though he was a tad faster than me due to how my soreness from fighting the captain slowed me down. He told me to follow him south to rescue the two women surrounded down there. It seemed that even in his bitter worry for his sister, his chivalrous nature still prevailed.

As we got closer, I recognized one of the 'women' as Libra, the war monk swinging around his hefty killing axe in nimble strikes to cut down the soldier coming at him. The other one, however, I didn't recognize. She had pink hair, a bit less vibrant than Olivia's, and a dress like Lissa's in a different shade of pink. She had no weapon, only a fancy metal staff that she used to heal Libra while he dealt with their assailants.

The numbers around them were proving to be too much, however, and I put a bit more speed in my step. I collided sword first with an unsuspecting archer who had an arrow knocked and aimed at the War Monk, the blade cutting through his spine and killing him instantly. Chrom came in close behind me, cleaving a dark mage in two with a roar and a swing from Falchion.

Libra's face, blood-covered and serious, softened several stages at the sight of the blue-haired noble. "Prince Chrom," he called, voice calm and soothing. The girl beside him jerked her eyes up to look at the approaching prince and I. She let out a hefty sigh of relief, slumping over in the process.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Chrom asked, lowering Falchion as we came into speaking distance. "And why do you two fight alone?"

"We were not along when we set out, sire," Libra said, solemn. The girl behind him sulked, turning away. "We lost many brave comrades during our journey here. In truth, I was beginning to doubt the realism of our struggle, but now…" He smiled again, shaking his head. "Now we have come across you, sire. Pray, my prince, let us serve you by patching your wounds and cutting down your foes!"

"Well I would be lying if I said I was not honoured to be joined by such formidable women of the cloth."

"I am no woman, sire. The only woman here is Calliope there. I am in fact a priest. Well, a war monk if you seek to split hairs."

"I… I see."

"Nevertheless, let us not delay!"

"Right." Chrom waved us forward with Falchion and we all rounded the fort separating us from the rest of the battlefield. Further north, I saw the approaching silhouettes of wyverns. With Ricken and Virion at the ready, we had little to worry about in that department. I put my focus on the task ahead of us.

I saw Tharja hovering over Robin, defending the tactician with vicious bolts of lightning. South of them, Krystal was battling a wyvern rider who had flown out from over the courtyard. Her casts of Flux were enough to defend herself from the hand axes, but the distance kept between them was too great for the spell to reach.

The struggle was cut short as a fireball from atop Sumia's Pegasus set the wyvern rider on fire. Riding with the Pegasus knight was Miriel, the studious mage raining down fire on helpless soldiers who had just come out from the courtyard.

Joining them in the sky was Cordelia and Dylan, the latter of whom was engaged in direct combat with another wyvern rider. He killed the rider pecking him to death. Then he grabbed the wounded wyvern and dragged it lower until he threw it into the side of the wall.

Cordelia threw her several of her new javelin in succession, some missing and sailing to the ground, other sticking in the wyvern's hard scales. She was having little trouble in her fight, so I paid it little mind. Zach was having trouble in dealing with a wyvern rider that was keeping out of his reach, swooping down to slash at him, but missing every time as he was too nimble. Then Dylan careened into the wyvern rider, knocking it out of the sky.

The massive lizard almost landed on top of us, but the impact shook the ground. I wondered how many times the laguz could do that without hurting himself in the process. That looked like it would be pretty painful, considering how much harder the wyvern's scales were than Dylan's feathered skin.

Free from his sky-bound nuisance, Zach wiped a hand across his forehead. He looked over to where we were heading over from and waved. "We got ourselves another dark mage, by the looks of things," he shouted, then pointed over to Tharja. Chrom frowned, but said nothing. He narrowed his eyes, presumably to get a look at the unexpected recruit. "Who is this?" he asked when we got closer.

"My name is Libra," the war monk said, bowing while holding a hand over his heart. "I am a priest in the service of Naga."

"And I am Calliope," the pink haired girl said, planting her stave on the ground. "I am a healer being trained by Mister Libra. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," the myrmidon said. "Wish it had been under different circumstances, though."

"We can focus on that later," Chrom said. "Who all is left?"

"No idea," Zach said, shrugging. "It's clear out here, but I think there are a few more being dealt with by Robin and the, uh, the dark mage." He pointed to where the courtyard gate was. Inside, Robin was indeed firing off bolts of Thunder alongside Tharja. They were a terrifying pair of great efficiency.

"You'll never save your precious exalt, scum!" roared a new voice, and a javelin sailed out of the courtyard, barely missing Robin and Tharja. That had to have been the boss, with an arm like that. Campari, if I recalled correctly.

Then a sound akin to a wyvern's roar, but deeper and more menacing, exploded from where Robin was standing, and she was coated in purple flames. The flames were vaster than they had been back in Ylisstol, though, spreading outward from where the tactician stood and glassing the sand at her feet. She pointed her hand to the petrified Campari and pulsed with light.

"You're finished," she muttered, then lightning crashed down from the sky, conducted by his heavy metal armour to fry him completely. Just as Validar had, Campari was reduced to a smoldering pile of cherry blossoms when the lightning had cleared. Robin dropped to her knees and Tharja rushed to her side. As the dark mage helped her to her feet, we all rushed closer.

"Tharja," the tactician said between ragged, coughing breathes. "Can you shoot a charge of Thunder into the sky?" She handed the dark mage her tome, and the ball of electricity sailed into the sky. As soon as it was higher than the mountain they were waiting upon, the Pegasus Knights flew out from their hiding place.

"Your Grace!" Phila called, waving to the Exalt.

"Phila!" Emmeryn called back, her voice filled with joy and relief. "I'm so glad you are safe, but how—"

"Your brother's men freed me, but enough of that. Come, we must hurry!"

"What?" came Gangrel's incredulous voice. "Pegasus Knights? How did they… UUURRAAAGH, that damned Ylissean tactician does NOT play fair!" Then a flash of purple and a collection of shadowy figures appeared in magic circles, bows in hand.

"Gods…"

 **AN: Oof, this chapter was a long boi. That was part of why it is late, though. It turned out a lot longer than I'd expected, what with all the filler stuff in the beginning. But I'm hoping that its 19.5 thousand word count makes up for it being a day and a half late.**

 **I don't have much to say about the chapter itself aside from that, though.**

 **I had bad news, though. Well, bad for me. I received an email from the writing program I applied for, and I was unfortunately declined. But I'm keeping my head up and plan to register for a few other programs for this summer.**

 **With that, I have naught else to say.**

 **All of the Oats have left the building.**


	21. Chapter 20: Renewal

**Hmm, yeah okay. I suppose things could be worse. What, now?**

 **Fire Emblem belongs to Nintendo and IS.**

 **Robert POV:**

"Risen?" Robin gasped, eyes flicking over the new threat. The Risen were still rigid from their summoning, but were quickly gaining mobility. Their limbs shuddered, their backs beginning to straighten. "Oh, Gods, no! Chrom! Kill them before they can shoot down the Pegasus knights!" 

The prince, Zach, and I charged forward while Robin and Tharja readied spells to throw. As we closed in, I heard Gangrel's mad laughter. "Oh my!" he cackled, back arched dramatically. "Did an army of living corpses just APPEAR out of the blue? Truly, the heavens shine upon the mighty king this day!"

Of the dozen archers summoned, I killed one, Zach killed another, then Tharja a third. Chrom had been mid-swing and Robin was mid-cast when the archers let fly their arrows to the sky. Above us, nearly all of the arrows hit.

I didn't look up, even at the screams of the Pegasus knights and their mounts or as Phila shouted to her exalt in one last effort, only furthering my attempts at carving down their numbers. Damn was Dylan and Emile had said, I was at least putting in an effort. Seeing things now, though, as we failed to kill all of the archers before another volley, the fight was already lost.

The Pegasus Knights fell from the sky, and I pushed Chrom out of the way of one such falling mount. In seconds, our plan of attack had been nullified and the Ylissean Royal Guard was dead. Cordelia really was the only official Pegasus Knight left.

I helped Chrom to his feet, hesitant at first because of the archers. Seeing their targets exterminated, however, they remained motionless. I helped the prince to his feet and we both gazed at the carnage around us. The white feathers of pegasi fluttered through the air, the mounts themselves lying dead and bloodied on the ground. Their wings and riders were punctured with arrows. I recognized Phila from where she lay, half-crushed under the body of her Pegasus. Her mouth was hanging open, her eyes wide. Gods… I knew this would happen, but this is just so much worse.

"No…" Chrom muttered, all of his anger leaving for a brief moment. "The plan… Robin, we've lost…"

"Well, now," Gangrel called from his perch on the castle balcony. One of his feet was perched on the railing as he leaned over it to literally look down on us. "I believe this is what some could call a… reversal of fortunes, hmm? Now…" His face was one of contemplative curiosity, but switched to reveal his madness in a sickening grin. "Grovel before me. Plead. Beg for your worthless lives" I wished we could fight him. I wanted to think we could beat him. Maybe if we all teamed up to face him, or Robin activated Ignis again, but with those archers and Aversa at his side, I knew we stood no chance. We truly had lost.

"I'd give up my life before I beg for it from you," Chrom snarled, and I could hear the grip on Falchion creak.

The King let out a mad laugh. "Oh, now _that_ is a good line. Tell you what—we can make it quite a fitting epitaph for your tombstone. How does that sound? Oh, but is not just your life at stake, prince. Far from it. Look above you: your dear sister still stands upon the block, and I have archers at the ready to put arrows in all your friends' backs. It would take no more than a single, little word from me and—"

"Emm!" Chrom shouted up to the exalt, disregarding Gangrel. "Hold on, I'm—"

"ARCHERS!" Gangrel roared. He glared at Chrom with beady eyes that showed his irritation at being ignored. "If this little pup so much as twitches, let fly your arrows!" Chrom froze on the spot, the Risen archers in front of us as well as the newly appearing ones on the courtyard walls drawing back their arrows.

"I… I'll kill you," he growled through bared teeth.

"Go ahead and try," the king said, suddenly triumphant. "I welcome it. Just know that as soon as you do, these archers will fire and you will be responsible for the death of not only your sister but all of your friends here."

Chrom didn't move from where he stood. Gangrel laughed, then flipped over the railing of his balcony. He landed below with a roll and became to make his way over to us. "That offer is available to any of you, you know," he called. "Anyone can try their hand." I wanted to kill him, but nowhere near as much as Chrom or Robin, so I stood where I was. Gangrel hid his smile and faked surprise. "What? No one wants the honor of killing the exalt? No one…?"

Then he burst into yet another fit of laughter, resting his hands on his knees to support himself through the fit. He slapped himself on the knee once or twice before leaning back and sucking in a deep breath. "Oh, your merry band isn't quite so headstrong or daring anymore, is it?" He flicked his eyes over those of us in the courtyard and grimaced. "Pathetic."

"Mother fuck…" I muttered, trying to keep my hand from shaking in anger. If he came any closer, I didn't know if I'd be able to help myself.

"Oh, but no one else has to die today," Gangrel announced, flaring his hands dramatically. "Not you," he pointed to Chrom, "not the exalt, nor your friends. All you need to do is lay down your sword and hand me the Fire Emblem."

The Mad King stopped walking directly in front of Chrom and held out one hand, the other resting on his hip. He grinned down at Chrom, standing a few inches taller but much less broad. He was not a very imposing man on his own. Even so, with dozens of archers at his back, he cut a very intimidating figure. Chrom's grip loosened on Falchion, and his free hand drifted over to touched the Emblem that hung from his waist. "I…"

"Chrom," Robin called, "you can't trust him!"

"I know that!" the prince roared in response. "I know I can't trust him. OF COURSE I can't trust him. I'm not an idiot! But if I don't, he'll kill her! The Gods are cruel, damn them. My sister… my family or my duty… there is no right answer, but…"

"Chrom." Robin walked over, her hands in the air. She had dropped her weapons, and they now lay a few feet to the side in the dirt. "Chrom, I know it is hard to admit. I know, but it is the only choice. In the scope of thousands of Plegian and Ylissean lives, one person, no matter who—"

"DON'T!" Chrom shouted, stabbing Falchion into the ground. "Don't say a damn thing." This was why he'd been angry. I could see it now, as his hand shook atop Falchion's pommel. How angry he'd been for the past few days was all a result of his thoughts on this moment. He had anticipated this situation from the beginning, I was sure. He'd thought about what he would do ever since he thought of this possibility. "Just don't."

"Make your decision quick," the king barked. "Or I will command these archers to fire. Tell me: will you let your sister die to save some old family trinket or let her live? Oh, this is delicious. I can hear it now, what your people have to say about it. 'THE EXALT IS DEAD,' they will sing, and 'LONG LIVE HER MURDERER.' Your entire halidom will collapse under your rule, boy!"

Chrom attempted to steady himself, saying, "We'll see, when the time comes. But first, I will see you dead."

"No wait!" Emmeryn shouted from her perch.

"SILENCE!" Gangrel shouted up at her, rage flashing across his face for no more than a second. "You have no part in this discussion!"

"Emm…" Chrom sulked. Did he regret his choice?

"King Gagnrel," Emmeryn continued, her voice carrying with surprising clarity. "Is there no hope you will listen to reason?"

"The only sounds I am willing to listen to are the _thunk_ of arrows and the _splat_ of you hitting the ground," Gangrel shouted, his face afflicted with a perpetual frown, "or the sound of a prince Chrom here unlatching the Fire Emblem from his waist. But it seems he has made his choice, so take one, long last look from your perch, as you do so enjoy looking down on people, then prepare to turn into the world's largest quiver. That is…" he turned away from her and back to Chrom with his outstretched hand. "unless someone were to change their mind and HAND me the Fire Emblem right NOW."

"ALL RIGHT," Chrom said, seeming to actually surprise Gangrel into dropping away his frown. "All right. Emm, I know you won't approve, but I have to make this decision. Maybe someday, we will face a threat and the Fire Emblem could have _possibly_ come in handy. Maybe. But today, I know for a fact that the people of Ylisse need you. They need their exalt, and we need our sister. And if those dark days were to come, then we would need you to help us face it together."

"Chrom…" The wind had long gone silent, the world itself waiting in anticipation for what was to come next. "Thank you." For the first time, her voice was not as steady. It trembled just a little. "I know now what I need to do."

"Emm, what are you…"

"Plegians!" Her voice was strong again, cutting loud and clear through the air. "I ask that you hear the truth of my words. War will win you nothing but sadness and pain, both inside your borders and out. Free yourselves from this hatred! From this cycle of pain and vengeance! It was brought on by war, and feeding more lives to another will not stop it. So I ask that you do what you must, as I will do."

I sucked in air through my teeth, gasping. This was it. _Here it comes._ "See now that one selfless act has the power to change the world."

"Emm, no!" Chrom shouted, breaking into a run as his big sister took a step forward. "No!" I, wary of the archers that still surrounded us, reached a hand out to stop him from going, but caught myself when I saw Gangrel. Upon seeing the Exalt's plan, he raised his hand to the air, keeping the archers from firing. On his face was the biggest, most twisted grin that had ever graced his face as Emmeryn took her final step off the edge.

Chrom shouted again, and I heard Lissa shriek from somewhere behind us. I only stood there and watched, knowing I was unable to do anything at this point. Emmeryn had her hands clasped together in front of her, her face stern. She had her mind made up. A bird flew over heard, passing over Emmeryn. She looked after the bird, then closed her eyes and bowed her head.

She sat like that for a moment while Chrom attempted in vain to close the great distance between them, then opened her eyes and looking up. She took a single step, her feet at the ledge, and I heard Lissa scream again. Chrom reached out, but we all knew full well that he was unable to catch her when she took that second step.

She plummeted straight down, soundless in her own action but causing another chain reaction of shouts and screams coming from every Shepherd there, excluding myself and likely the other Earthlings. This was what we expected. We knew this was happening. I had never even held a conversation with the woman, either, but…

Why was it so hard to watch?

I turned to look away, just as a massive feathered shape came soaring into the courtyard with a screech. This was the first difference. After the way he'd reacted to Krystal and I suggesting saving Emmeryn, the last thing I had expected was for him to try and save her himself. But here he was, flying toward the falling exalt as fast as it could. He was going to reach her faster than the archers could fire. He would make it. The first difference, and a weight was lifted from my chest. If only that was the last difference, as well.

Moments before he could reach her, something exploded in the air just below the Exalt. Purple fire, a blast of air, and an earth-shattering boom that shook the entire courtyard.

"Emm!" "NOOO!"

The force was great enough to knock Dylan from the sky, sending him tumbling along the ground with his feathers on fire. He transformed back before he reached us, coughing and spluttering.

Then our attention returned to where the Exalt had been. The smoke in the sky cleared, but there was no sign of her. Nor was there a body on the ground below. The only things on the ground were the rubble of the stone blown apart by the explosion and the scorch marks. Emmeryn was nowhere to be seen. There was no body. Oh gods… But that meant…

Chrom dropped to his knees, and even Gangrel was too stunned to say anything. At least for a moment. Before long, he broke out in vile laughter, hunching over from it. When his laughter had died down enough for him to speak, he said, "Ohoho, well now! I did not expect that. Quite the way to go out, if I do say so myself."

"DAMN YOU, GANGREL!" Chrom roared, pushing himself to his feet and storming his way back toward us. He froze dead when Gangrel rounded up the archers, however, and the king continued his spiel.

"Whoa, now," he said, putting his hands up in mock defense. "I had nothing to do with that. The explosion, I mean. The fall was beautiful, while it lasted, and I had been in the middle of a plan to put her body on display afterward when she exploded. While I enjoyed the fireworks, I would have appreciated a messier aftermath."

Chrom growled and pushed forward, ripping Falcion out of the ground. "You die today!" he roared, but Robin snagged his arm.

"No, Chrom!" she said, pulling him away from the King, who was looking on in abject amusement. "We have to get out of here. We lost this battle."

The prince glared into her eyes, then faltered, wilting. "I… But he…"

At our feet, Dylan groaned and began to push himself to his feet. I knelt down to help him while they worked that out. I had to throw the laguz's arm around my shoulder to keep him up. The blast must have taken a lot out of him. Some of his feathers still had embers glowing on them. "I'm glad you had a change of heart, right at the end there," I whispered, loud enough for his ears alone. _Lot of good it did, though._

Robin dragged Chrom away, and a somber Sumia swooped down. Up on the parapets, the archers had lowered their bows, presumably on the king's orders. He was still watching, that mad grin never leaving his face. Sumia and Robin helped Chrom onto her Pegasus, then the tactician announced our retreat while Zach, Tharja, and I kept watch for the soldier to take action.

But throughout our hurried escape, none of them did. If anything, they seemed almost remorseful. A few times, I met the eyes of surviving soldiers and they were lax and sorrowful. I wondered if they wanted to help, but remained in fear of Gangrel. The only real noticeable action was when Gangrel whispered something in the ear of a soldier, who then scurried off somewhere. Today was a fucking mess, and Basilio wasn't here to get us a way out.

"Robin, what's our plan?" I asked as we fled from the city, moving south instead of North like I knew we were supposed to. We clearly weren't heading to Ferox, and heading North by ourselves would get us caught in between the main army and the smaller force we'd just fought.

We hadn't heard anything from Ferox since leaving for the capital, not even in the form of letters. It made sense, considering neither of us had any idea how much progress the other had made. Still, it was worrisome. Aside from our strike force, we had no idea how the main war was faring.

"We're heading South," she said, her voice tight. "I read about a place called the Outrealm Gate. If I'm right, we can use it to get away from here and they won't be able to follow us."

The Outrealms? Good. It would give us a break. And if we were lucky, we wouldn't even have to fight Mustafa.

The further south we went, the more I hoped against a fight with Mustafa. We had sustained some injuries during the fight. Nothing major, aside from Dylan's severe burns and probably broken bones, but we were walking into marshlands. The ground became wetter and rain clouds in the distance promised to worsen this. Hampered as we were—emotionally, physically, and environmentally—this would not be a fun fight.

No one talked. We moved in a half-run, with that being the best we could muster as a group, for the better half of an hour. After that, there was sound. Not in the form of talking, but rather suction as our boots plopped in the muddy ground, slowing us down further. I wanted to hear something else, but I couldn't bring myself to break this silence. Looking around, I had the feeling that mute stoicism was the only thing holding some of these people together.

So I said nothing, instead biding my time by concentrating on holding Dylan up straight. His breathing was labored, and each step was like jumping a hurdle with the guy. I did what I could to keep from touching his burns, but sometimes my hand slipped and I received a pained hiss as I brushed against a tender spot.

In the end, it was Dylan who broke the silence. "Son of a bitch," he muttered, unable to make his voice any louder. His eyes were directed at the sky. "Look." He gestured with his chin up, and I followed where he was looking to see a large collection of shapes flying over our heads. While it certainly was an oddity, I didn't see anything wrong with it. As far as I knew, it was a flock of birds. I looked out him with a raised eyebrow and he said without looking at me, "Wyvern Riders."

"Are you sure?" I asked, and he nodded, never looking away from what I assumed was a whole damned brigade. There were so many… So, so many of them. "Fuck," I muttered. It was a lot of them, and the guy who was probably our best aerial fighter was nowhere near fighting fit. "I've got to tell Robin."

I began to push my way through the crowd. I would have yelled, but I was reluctant to give away our awareness of them. If they could somehow hear us, even from that height, I did not want them catching on and swooping down while we were still unprepared. I searched for Robin's snow-white hair, and it took me a minute or two because she had it covered with her hood.

"Robin," I said, grabbing her shoulder. She let out a gasp, whirling around to face me. Her eyes begged an explanation. "There is an entire fleet of wyvern riders flying directly above us."

As soon as 'wyvern riders' left my mouth, she looked up and her reaction was immediate. Her eyes shot open and her jaw dropped, but she composed herself quickly. My notification was not only heard by her, however. The few people around us at the time all heard me, but their reactions were less dignified.

While Robin searched for some sort of cover to protect us from the airborne threat, I was deafened by the sudden uproar of twenty-some weapons being drawn at nearly the same time. Word had spread in no time. My own weapon joined the chorus, and Robin shouted, "Over there! Head to those trees!" A bit to the East, there was a large grove of trees. It was better than nothing. "Let's go!"

Before we could get very far, a wyvern's roar cut through the air, followed by another, then another. They began to circle us. We eyed them warily, our fliers prepared to take flight at a moment's notice. We waited for the Plegians to dive down, but they kept circling us. Our own pace slowed to a halt, and was just watched as the wyverns circled lower and lower, though never getting any closer. When they got closer to the ground, I realized that we were more outnumbered than I'd initially realized.

This fleet consisted of no less than thirty wyverns. That left us outnumbered and outclassed as things were. To make matters worse, each wyvern was massive, easily large enough to support the three-to-four extra, fully armed passengers atop them. I was too unnerved to do the math.

They descended low enough to land, but never bothered, instead forming a spinning wall around us. In response, we formed a defensive circle of our own, keeping the healers and ranged units protected in the middle.

"Ylisseans!" boomed a deep voice, and we looked to see a man jump down from one of the wyverns. He landed in a roll to compensate for their speed, then began to walk toward us in a confident, but cautious, stride. He was bald, but had a long, furry beard. Resting on his shoulder was a red axe with a silver blade. "I offer you mercy," he continued, and I recognized him as Mustafa. "Surrender to me now, and I will let you live. Emmeryn would not have wished for this to come to bloodshed."

Chrom pushed to the front of our circle and stepped to Mustafa's face. "Don't speak her name!" he snapped, giving the Plegian a shove. "Don't you dare." He moved to push Mustafa again, but the Plegian grabbed him.

"Your rage is justified, Prince Chrom," he said. "But the meaning of your sister's sacrifice was not lost on me. I suspect many Plegians who heard her final words would say the same. If you lay down your weapons now, I vow on my life to protect you as best you can." His delivery was genuine, his voice sincere in spite of the glaring Prince in his grasp.

"Like I would trust you," the prince growled, struggling against the larger man's hold. "After what your bastard of a king has done!"

"I suspected you would say as much," Mustafa said, closing his eyes. "Very well." He nodded sagely after a few seconds, then pushed Chrom away. "Prince Chrom, I shall endeavor to grant you a swift and dignified end." The prince tumbled to the ground, but recovered in time to see Mustafa walking back to the spinning wall of wyvern riders.

I heard murmuring coming from behind me, but it was too quiet to understand over the turbulent noise of passing wyverns. Whatever it was, it was spreading throughout the Shepherds. Mustafa was talking with a wyvern rider that slowed and landed next to him. The soldier on its back and the rider were having some sort of argument while Mustafa mediated. Whatever was going on over there, he didn't notice the chatting growing amongst the Shepherds. By the time the command of, "When Robin speaks, duck down," reached me, the rider and soldier Mustafa had been talking to flew back into the torrent with a cheer. I had no idea what it meant.

"Riders!" he yelled, raising his hand. A resounding cheer reverberated from all of the Plegians present, echoing around us in a chorus. Mustafa spun around, his hand clenched in a fist and raised. "Ylisseans," he said, closing his eyes and dipping his head slightly. "This is your last chance."

"No, General Mustafa," Robin said, stepping to the forefront of our group to look the Plegian in the eyes. I waited for everyone else to dive down, like whoever whispered in my ear had said, but none of them did. It wasn't time, I assumed. The way Robin stood, confident and calm, told me she knew what she was doing and that the murmuring was her doing. Plus, something was lighting up the hand she held behind her back. "This is _your_ last chance. Let us go without a struggle and we won't harm a single rider in your fleet. Clearly, neither of us wish for trouble."

"Sorry, lass," the Plegian said, shaking his head. "I'm afraid I cannot take that offer. I must bring you all back to the king or my family will likely face its end as a lesson. That is a chance I must not take, you see."

"Yes, I do," the tactician said, nodding sagely. "It's a shame it had to come to this, but…" She brought the hand she'd been hiding out in front of her and pulled the sleeve back. Her hand was clenched into a fist, but it was glowing yellow. As soon as she unclenched her hand, the sky rumbled and sparks danced up her arm and around her feet. She raised her hand to the air, and I saw Mustafa blanch. Lightning crackled, and at the last second, as the magic circles spun around her, Robin whirled around to face us. Her face was scrunched in pain, her snow-white hair billowing in the force of her magic. "GET DOWN!"

Everyone except for Krystal, Tharja, Miriel, and Ricken dove to the ground and covered our heads. The five mages, each of their hands glowing the colour of their respective magic, turned to face the same way as Robin and unleashed their charged up spells at the spinning wall of wyverns. All at once, blades of wind, balls of fire, bolts of lightning, and pillars of the void tore through the wyvern riders that happened to be either in the way or flying toward the vicinity of the devastating joint spell.

It created a deafening noise and a blinding flash, drowning out the noise of the no doubt screaming wyverns and riders without trouble. When the dust settled and I opened my eyes, bodies were strewn about everywhere and the remaining riders had scattered.

I pushed myself to my feet with a groan, jarred by the explosion and my ears ringing. The other Shepherds followed suit, though the mages were still standing by some miracle. I held a hand to my head while I righted my balance, taking in the sight before me. Yes, bodies were everywhere. Aside from the occasional intact wing or tail, however, I could not distinguish between the bloodied chunks of corpses. It was impossible to tell what was wyvern or what was its rider.

"Holy fuck," I muttered, but my voice was still muffled by my ringing ears. I rubbed at them while I looked over the other Shepherds. They seemed to be going through the same things. All except for the mages, none of whom remained standing after we all got off the ground. Each of the five collapsed to their knees, unable to support themselves after their spell.

Robin seemed to be the most coherent, however, and remained conscious. She was taking in ragged breaths, mouth hanging wide open, eyes closed, arms slack at her sides. "We… we need to go," she rasped, then was seized by a fit of coughing.

Zach was, unsurprisingly, the first to get over to her. His approach was less than graceful, however, interrupted by him falling halfway before reaching the tactician and pulling her to her feet. "Come on, Robin," he murmured, stumbling with her.

Behind them, Gregor was throwing Tharja over his shoulder, Ricken was being hauled onto Maribelle's horse, Miriel was picked up by Stahl, and Sumia helped Krystal onto her Pegasus. "We don't have a lot of time!" the Pegasus knight called in the midst of the act, then gestured with her chin to the sky behind us.

"Oh, fuck." The mages hadn't taken down all of the wyvern riders. While a sound amount was ripped apart, a good third of the original force escaped, scattering at the sign of attack. They were in no discernible formation, but their airborne forms dotted the cloudy sky as they looked down at us.

"Get them into the woods!" Virion yelled, taking command now that Robin was out of commission. He slipped into the role well, his usually calm voice carrying over the field. His face was set in determination and his bow notched. "I will do what I can to hold them back while you do so!"

"You won't be enough!" Sully called, though she was already helping get the others to the trees. "You can't hold off all those riders by yourself!"

"He won't be by himself," Cordelia said, hefting her lance. Her eyes were narrowed, unflinching as she glared at the wyvern riders in the distance. Her Pegasus snorted and flapped its wings, seeming to share her discontent with the Plegians. Cordelia stroked its mane and said, "I'll be here with him. He needs someone to keep them at a distance, and I have a grudge to settle with the Plegians anyway."

She was going to stay behind and fight them? While the rest of us fled? But this was a suicide mission! She had to realize that—wait. Was that why she wanted to…? I looked at her face, searching for any sign of despair that would lead her to wanting to engage in this fatal mission. I found nothing, however, except for a hardened determination and an angry glare. She didn't want to die. She really did want revenge against these Plegians. No, she wasn't going to die here. Not without fighting. But I couldn't let her go alone and risk dying without… I made up my mind.

"I'll go with you." She whirled on me in shock, eyes wide. She looked ready to protest, but I held up a hand to stop her. "I'm doing this for me," I said, half-lying. We wouldn't even be in this situation if I had done something to let the Shepherds know of Aversa's trap. I felt at least partially responsible for this mess, and couldn't rightfully retreat while others sacrificed themselves like this. It didn't sit well with me. "Plus, you need someone to watch your back."

"Dammit, I'm going too—" Chrom began, but Frederick cut him off, pulling the forlorn prince onto his massive horse without any issue. The knight gave no consolation as he dragged Chrom away from the fight and away from certain danger. Good. We didn't have to worry about keeping him safe now.

"Are we ready then?" another voice said, and I looked to see Dylan hobbling up behind me. I gave him an incredulous look, not about to allow him to fight in his condition, but his death glare shut me up. I would let him talk, at the very least. "Don't even start," he said, walking past me and rolling his shoulders. "I'm doing this because I feel partly responsible, like I haven't done enough." He looked me in the eye, and I knew what he meant, even if he kept his wording vague enough so the other didn't understand. "Besides, you'll need me for this."

I scowled, but nodded. "Alright, Virion. Your call."

The arched nodded, not a sense of humour present in his visage. "Very well. Prepare to engage."

 **Zach POV:**

"I don't feel good about this," Robin muttered as I half-carried her toward the woods. They looked dense enough to keep us protected and hidden from the wyverns, but to what end? I couldn't help but wonder. "I don't like leaving them back there to cover our escape."

"There is nothing to be done," I said, though I felt the same way. I had a shitty feeling in my gut. This situation didn't sit well with me, either, but we needed to make a getaway, and I could see no other way out of this. I only worried about what was coming up ahead, and how we would get out of these trees without being spotted.

"But there is!" the tactician protested, but was then seized by another round of coughing. I kept my eye on her, nervous but unsure of what to do, until her breathing caught up. "There is something we could do! I just don't know what it is. I can't find the right solution, or the right strategy to lead us to victory." Her voice was quiet, a raspy whisper. "My lack of skill already cost us one life today. Who's to say that it won't cost us another?" She looked up at me with a defeated look in her eyes that I couldn't bear to see.

"I am," I growled, looking away from her and straight ahead. "They'll be fine, now be quiet and concentrate on staying on your feet." I didn't care if I didn't fully believe it. I really didn't need her negativity bringing down my hopes any more than my own was.

Then I heard a wyvern roar in rage and a battle cry, and a shiver went down my spine.

 **Robert POV:**

The wyvern roared, and dove straight for us with its jaws outstretched. Before it could reach us, however, Virion dispatched it with a single arrow that shredded its wing. I ran over to the crashed dragon as it ground into the dirt, dead on impact while its passengers recovered from the rough landing.

I was able to kill the soldier was he was still disoriented, and the rider had been flung from the saddle, dying alongside his mount. That only left the barbarian that stumbled free of the mess. He was coherent enough to catch my blade mid-swing with his axe, but not fast enough to stop the punch that broke his nose and knocked him back far enough for me to get in a second, fatal swing.

"Robert!" Cordelia called my name, and I spun around in time to see her flying toward me with a wyvern rider tailing her. I reached out my hand, and she caught it as she flew by, pulling me onto her Pegasus. We soared into the sky, the Plegian hot on our tail. I cast a glance back to see how close he was, but we were pulling away. "How do we deal with this?" she asked, and I thought for a moment.

"Get lower!" I said, an idea popping into my head. There were three of them on that wyvern, so I would be outnumbered, but if I could catch them by surprise, then victory was assured. "When we get low to the ground, swoop back up right away and be ready to help me out if I need it!"

"What are you going to do?" she asked, chancing a look my way, but I didn't meet her gaze. I was too busy staring into the eyes of the wyvern rider at the reins.

"Just trust me." I heard her groan in exasperation, but with a flick of the reins, we began to descend. The wyvern rider followed almost our exact path, and I had to hide my smirk. I moved my eyes to the ground, and when we were just above it, I looked back to the wyvern rider. As soon as he was level with the ground like we were, I shouted, "Go up!"

Cordelia spurred the Pegasus almost vertical, and I leapt from its back. Neither the wyvern or its rider were ready for me to jump off mid-air, and I collided with the rider sword-first, killing him in a single blow. As a result of the impact, I knocked the other passengers off at the same time, and we all tumbled to the ground. A _thunk_ and a roar of pain let me know Virion had taken care of the rider-less wyvern. With that taken care of, my two foes were part of the jumbled mess of limbs underneath me. I raised my sword to stab through whatever I could, but something hit me in the face and forced me to roll away.

The barbarian and lancer took this opportunity to rise to their feet and brandish their weapons. "For our General!" the lancer cried, raising his lance and charging. Not missing a beat, the barbarian joined him and both rushed me with their weapons raised. I raised my own sword to block, but out of the corner of my eyes I saw a flash of red fast approaching, so I switched to an offensive stance and ran to meet the Plegians' charge.

With a shout, I swung my sword at the lancer as I heard Cordelia yell, "I got you!" and throwing one of her javelins at the barbarian. The barbarian let out a cry of pain, and I traded blows with the lancer. His lance grazed my side, due to me spinning into my swing, and I cleaved halfway through him.

I yanked my sword out and waved to Cordelia, who waved back before riding after a wyvern rider who had his sights set on Virion. The archer was firing arrow after arrow, each one bringing down a wyvern. I wondered how many arrows he had, but another thought was more prevalent in my mind, one brought on by what the soldier had said before charging. With a start, I realized I hadn't see the Plegian General since the mages used their combined magic. _Where is Mustafa?_

I spun around, looking over the battlefield in search of the General while also keeping an eye out for approaching enemies. Virion had cut down the airborne threat significantly, with the few remaining riders working to avoid his arrows or give chase to Cordelia or Dylan. I was out of their sights, but the only reason they were able to move fast enough to avoid Virion's shots were because they had let their ground troops off.

And one of those ground troops was going after Virion, who was busy dealing with wyverns to notice.

I took off at a dead sprint, white-knuckling my sword to keep from dropping it as I charged at full-speed to intercept the barbarian. A roar almost caught my attention, but I was steadfast, moving toward my target and…!

He raised his axe, but I lowered my shoulder and brought him to the ground before he could attack. He grunted as he hit the ground, and I raised my sword to stab him. Just before my blade connected, he rolled and pushed me off. I rolled out of the way to avoid his following slash, then again when he tried to repeat the move.

When he went to try a third time, I shortened my roll so I narrowly avoided his axe. I remained close enough so that when it hit the dirt, I grabbed the handle and pulled myself to my feet. I slammed my forehead into his and stabbed him through the gut while he was stunned, ending his life.

"Robert!" I was given no time to react. I was grabbed by the collar of my coat and yanked backward, flying back several feet before slamming my back onto the dirt. Standing over me was the bearded Plegain General, his axe resting on his shoulder again. I could not read his face as he raised his weapon, but I could see the pain when an arrow thudded into his back and gave me the chance to escape.

I backed away, but kept a ready stance and circled around him to stand in front of Virion. "I can take care of this guy," I told the archer. I figured Mustafa couldn't be much stronger or faster than the Warrior I'd fought when freeing the Pegasus knights, and I'd defeated him by myself. Winning this would not be farfetched at that rate. "Just keep my covered and keep yourself safe." If I had to protect Virion, however, that would turn the battle from my favor.

"You wish to battle me yourself, then?" Mustafa asked, holding his axe parallel to the ground with one hand. "Come, then. I will attempt to make this quick." It wasn't arroganace, but confidence in his voice. For some reason, that made his patronizing comment less aggravating and made me respect him more for the calm, respectful delivery.

"And I will do the same!" The end of my sentence was punctuated with a grunt, our two weapons meeting in a clash. The weight of his axe was amazing, and I marveled that he could swing it about so easily, but I also figured that if I evaded his attack, we would be left wide open. "Hyah!" I slashed horizontally as soon as I was able, then hopped back just in time to avoid a right hook.

Faster than I could retaliate, the General swung again, this time vertically, then horizontally again to keep me on my toes. I side stepped the first attack, then hopped backward to narrowly avoid the second.

He was faster than the Warrior at the fort, I realized. This was going to be troublesome.

I heard a screech above me, and looked up to see Dylan diving down to assist me. He was close enough for me to see each individual feather when one of the few remaining wyvern riders intercepted him and knocked him off course.

"You let your guard down!" Mustafa roared, swinging wide. I had done just that. With my guard down, I gave him a clear shot at my stomach, which he obliged without question. His axe cut long and deep along my gut. The only reason he didn't cut me completely in half was because I had enough instinctual reaction speed to twist and angle myself around a fatal blow.

I stumbled backward, clutching my gaping, bleeding wound with my entire left arm while I made a feeble attempt to keep my sword raised with me right. I hunched over, dropping to me knee, and Mustafa made his approach to finish me off.

He raised his axe as he drew near. I grit my teeth and forced myself to my feet, catching myself when I stumbled. I was hesitant, reluctantly moving my left arm to hold my sword with both hands. It wasn't doing much good applying pressure there, anyway. I was going to die here. Least I could do was deal at least one good blow on Mustafa to make him easier for the others to take down.

"Come on then, big guy!" I growled, holding my sword out in front of me. When he was no more than five feet away, I advanced. I made slow steps until my sword was a thrust away from hitting, then lunged. I knew he would bat me away with his axe, and lowered my stab so when I missed his gut, I cut along his thigh, long and deep. Just like the wound along my stomach that…

I slid along the ground, scrambling to my feet while Mustafa hissed in pain. I felt a cough rising up within me, but held it down. "Come on!"

He hardly regarded the bleeding cut along his leg, taking slow deliberate steps toward me. Knowing him, he probably sought to kill me swiftly and end my pain, which, to be honest, was quite expansive and miserable. I was dying in misery here, but dammit, I was not done. Virion sure as hell couldn't take this guy, and I was not leaving him at full strength for Cordy to deal with.

 _Ah._ Cordelia. That's right, I couldn't die yet. I still had to give here… "Agh, Gods dammit, fuck…" I stumbled back a few steps, before charging forward, back at Mustafa. I was going to kill him here. There was something I had to give Cordelia, and if I was dead, I couldn't give it to her, so I need to survive. I needed to kill Mustafa and survive.

"RRHHAA—" I was stopped inches from cutting him by a close-fisted punch to the mouth, which sent me to the ground.

I tasted blood as I stood, then wiped my lip with the back of my hand. Ugh, the bastard split it. I spit out a wad of blood and readjusted my grip on my sword. One more charge. All this would take was one good hit. "Come, now, boy," Mustafa said. "Allow me to end this quickly."

"Like hell!" I ran at him again to the best of my ability. I raised my sword, letting him think I was swinging from the right when…

Mustafa did the same horizontal swing, expecting me to do the same thing as last time. Instead, I dove to the side, aiming to slash along his other leg. My blade, higher than I expected, cut into his stomach and made its way down to the middle of his thigh when his leg lashed out and kicked me in the gut.

I rolled along the ground, that cough from before seizing me. I held myself up on my hands and knees, coughing up blood in a small pool on the ground. Mustafa marched back over to me, and in my weakened state, I was in no position to fight back. I had no idea where anybody else was. My entire world was red with pain and the Plegian General approaching in my peripherals. I tried to push myself up to face him, but couldn't rise from the ground.

Mustafa's axe was out of view, so I figured he had it raised. I was going to be executed. I was going to die. But I couldn't die, not here. There were things I wanted to do! In this world, I… I felt along my side for my pocket, where I knew. I knew that I…

"This is the end, lad," Mustafa said, reverent.

"Robert!" I heard Cordelia's voice. Was I hallucinating? Or was she actually calling? I couldn't tell. Everything was red… I…. I had to… I had to give her the pins!

The last thing I knew, I saw beyond Mustafa's legs, and there was a loud screech, like Dylan's always sounded. It was loud, loud enough for me to think it was real, and then I saw a big dark shape hurtling toward me and Mustafa. Next thing after that, a crashing noise and darkness…

 **Cutting it real goddamn close, I know! Holy shit, and yes, this is technically on schedule. As I post this, it is 11:54, so I am technically on time! Yes!**

 **Not much else to say, in a bit of a rush and I want to go to bed. But don't ever say I don't stick to my word. Now, I have to get to sleep so I can cheat on my math test tomorrow.**

 **All of the Oats have left the building.**


	22. Chapter 21: On a Wire

**My birthday has come and gone, leaving me a year older. I neglected to mention that it was two days after I posted the last chapter, mostly due to time constraints and the fact that it was far from my mind at the time. Anyway, I am 17 now, and I feel literally no different. Though the impending pressure of adulthood is coming closer and closer, and that is not something I am looking forward to.**

 **But oh, the world decided to give me a birthday present. Any guesses? No? It was a blizzard. I got a snowstorm on my birthday and it closed down the movie theater. In addition to that, my wifi stopped working so I couldn't even watch any of my shows.**

 **Rambling aside, I return, and with another chapter no less! Huzzah!**

 **And I have to say, I appreciate the lengthy reviews you've all been dropping as of late. It makes for a good day when I wake up and see review notifications on my phone, so thank you all. Anyway, enough of that.**

 **Fire Emblem belongs to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.**

 **Переволить ниггер**

 **Robert POV:**

 _Oh, I've got to wake up. I'm probably already late for school. Dad's going to be pissed._

 _Stay. Sleep._

 _I can't. I have to get to school or I'm going to get my ass kicked. I can't be missing days. Then there's sports. I have to be there._

 _No. Stay. Sleep. Remain in the dark._

 _No, no, I have to get up. I'm behind as it is. But…_

 _Sleep is like home, yes? Stay home and sleep. Stay warm. Stay in the dark, like you're wrapped up with blankets. Yes._

 _I could. God, I wish I could, but—_

" _Robert!"_

 _Ah, see? That's my sister right now, ready to burst in and bitch at me until I wake up. I don't have much of a choice in this matter._

" _Robert! Robert, wake up!"_

 _Yes, yes, I'm getting up. Just give me a minute and I'll be up. I just have to figure out how to escape from this mess of blankets._

" _Robert! Please wake up!"_

 _PLEASE? Oh, now that is rich. If she's begging me to get up, then I could drag this out a little longer. Make her suffer for a while longer and get some more sleep myself. That's just wonderful. Let myself drift a bit deeper, then—_

" _No, you have to wake up, come on! Robert!"_

 _Wait. That… that doesn't sound like my sister. At first, the difference was unnoticeable, but the closer and louder it got… There was a clear definition between the voices. For one, this voice was pleasant, even if it was in a panicked tone, and resonated in my ears, but not in the way that my sister's irritating whine did. This voice also brought a different picture to my mind. A different face to match._

"Robert, please, you can't do this!" _the woman cried again, and I felt a pressure on my chest._ "Wake up!" _The voice sounded different. Clearer. It made the words before seem muffled and distant, which through a door would make sense, but… Why was there a red light ahead of me?_

 _I pushed toward the red light, trying to reach it. The closer I got, swimming through the darkness around me, the warmer I felt. Not physical, but somewhere in my chest. Another pressure on my chest, and instead of pushing me deeper like I'd figured, I was instead dragged forward, closer to the light. As the distance shortened, I began to make out a face in the light, and the redness decreased. Instead of being completely red, the picture was instead framed by it, with little streams of cherry red falling over it. It was blurry, but if I squinted, I could have sworn I saw a face…_

"Wake up, dammit!" _The pressure returned, in greater force and frequency. It wasn't just on my chest either, though it felt like whatever was pushing on me was trying to flatten me. No, after so many presses on my chest, something pushed against my mouth before leaving shortly after._ "Come on!"

 _The face in the light… slowly, it started to come into focus. With each press, I made out another detail, but… even though I could see everything without obstruction, to the woman's distressed look, teary eyes and cherry red hair, I couldn't put a name to the face. Who was this woman? Why was she crying, and why was I seeing her face?_

"You can't die now!"

 _I can't die now? Die? Why would I—_

 _A massive collection of images, sounds, and smells flooded my brain all at once, my brain tearing under the overload of sensations. I saw people with hair all the colours of the rainbow and faces that were strangely familiar, yet they were strangers to me, and voices in the sound of joyous laughter as well as strained shouts. Then there were faces that my mind held no recognition of. As my vision began to go white, I saw a woman standing a few feet ahead of me, her long green hair falling past her pointed ears, her shoulders, and the wings that sprouted from her back._

"This is not your time, Robert!" _the woman from before said, her voice closer than ever even if I was unable to see her. But in my head…_

 _The winged woman in front smiled graciously, then opened her arms as if for a hug. "She is right, Robert." Her voice carried a different quality. It was not as clear as the red-haired woman's had been, but nor did it sound like it was coming through water. No, instead it was what could only be described as ethereal. "This is not your time. You still have things to do in this world, and if my foe can offer assistance to his allies in a time of need, then there is nothing to stop me from doing the same."_

 _Why did she look familiar, too? A different familiarity, but I knew I knew her. Her name… It was on the tip of my tongue._

" _It is time to wake up," the winged woman said, closing the distance between us. "Face this fight to the end, Robert." The pressure against my chest grew harder with each press and I felt myself drawing closer and closer to… something. "She can't wake you up on her own, but with my help, I can grant you a short time."_

" _Wait. Do I know you?" I asked, and she just smiled wider._

" _In a sense, yes. But I am not the one you should be concerned with. Do not worry about my name now."_

"Robert!"

 _The winged woman began to fade away, saying, "Wake up, now."_

"Come on, come on, come on!" The pressure against my lips again, and I felt a breath of air more refreshing than the brisk breeze on a spring day after leaving a stuffy house for the first time in days. It tore me away from the winged woman, ripping her visage away and replacing it with the face of the red-haired woman whose name was now at the forefront of my mind.

"Robert!" _I couldn't die yet. This fight wasn't over._

" _Cordelia!" I yelled as I seized the red light in front of me._

 **Krystal POV:**

Full-consciousness remained just out of my grasp as I jostled about on Sumia's Pegasus. She kept a sturdy arm around me to keep me from falling as we rode. My own arms, slung loose around her waist, were liable to fail in that same goal. My vision was blurry and all of my sensations were numbed to an almost imperceptible level.

Still, Sumia's voice through the ringing in my ears let me know that she was with me, and the jostling was what told me we were moving and that I was atop some sort of mount. I was able to piece that information together, and then the sudden shirt from light to dark during what I could only assume was our crossing into the woods.

"…go… can't let…" I could hear another voice on occasion. "I…let… we escape…again." She was desperate and frenzied. I read that much from her tone, even if I could make out no more than half of her words. "…they…we have…go back!" I had no idea what she was talking about. For a time after unleashing that magic attack, I was no better than a rag doll. We were already on the move when I came to.

As I leaned on Sumia with my full weight, I held myself from the sleep that seemed was threatening to pull me into its proximal, welcoming depths. I fought the temptation of letting my eyes drift shut for an immeasurable amount of time. I was unable to focus on anything else, so whatever other words the other woman said were lost to me in a blur.

Everything else drifted away as I began to lose the fight, however, leaving me in a comforting darkness. At least, until whenever we stopped later and Sumia woke me up.

 **Robert POV:**

I gasped as I woke up, my eyes shooting open to see Cordelia kneeling over me, her face pulling away from me. "Oh thank the gods!" she cried, moving forward again before stopping herself. "You weren't breathing and I…" She shook her head and I looked around to observe my surroundings. Everything was still a bit hazy, but I was able to pick out the giant mass of dark scales and claws a few yards to my right, a path of torn up mud and dirt trailing between us.

"What…" I remembered Mustafa standing over me, before my vision went black, but I had no recollection as of what happened, how in hell I survived, or where the Plegian General was. I moved to sit up, but Cordelia kept me from going far. She pushed me gently back down to the ground and shook her head.

"You can't be moving around right now," she said, keeping one hand to my chest. "You are far too injured for that." That was the truth. Existence was pain right now. It was all that I felt, accentuated with each touch from anything. Even the light pressure from Cordelia's palm on my chest sent a pulsing ache through me. Some areas were more severe than others, namely my right side, my left leg, the gash in my shoulder, and the still gaping wound across my stomach.

"Stay here and keep pressure on your gash," the Pegasus knight said before standing up and walking over to her mount. She swung her leg over it and cast one more look at me, her brow furrowed. Her expression was neutralized in a moment, however, and she urged her Pegasus to take off.

I did as she said and moved pressed my left arm—moving my right lanced a sharp pain across my chest and shoulder, which was a lesson I learned the hard way—to my gut in an effort to stem the bleeding. I looked over myself to gauge my other wounds, but was unable to do so effectively due to the amount of mud caked over most of my body.

I knew enough about the human body that, if I were to start moving about, blood would flow faster than if I remained where I was. Hence, staying put and keeping pressure on my wound like Cordelia said was the smartest choice of action, if only a way of staving off my coming death. I'd also broken enough bones at this point to know that the aching in some places could have been nothing else. This, paired with the bleeding and inevitable breathing trouble I would get from my asthma acting up in the face of great strain, would make moving difficult and dangerous. In other words, I had every intention of staying put.

That said, when I heard a groan come from my right, my number of options was cut down considerably. I wanted to believe that it was Dylan or Virion, but I could see them without obstruction, fighting off the few remaining Plegians. My next hope was that whoever it was happened to be an ally, possibly a Shepherd that came back to help us out. When the stranger spoke, however, I recognized the gruff voice and bit back a curse.

Mustafa let out a strained grunt, like he was trying to lift something heavy. I moved to reach more my sword, pausing in pain before looking down to see it away from my side. I muffled another curse, then searched my surrounding area for the blade. Finding no sign of the gleaming metal, fear spiked in my heart.

I was defenseless. This was reinforced by the fact that all of my allies were far away, either in the sky or aiming toward it. None of them would arrive in time to save me from the General who could kill me with his bare hands if I was in this state. My fate would have been sealed for a second time already if not for one thing:

Mustafa couldn't reach me.

I looked to my right in order to see my approaching foe, then froze when I saw the wyvern's body shift. My first thought was that the beast was alive and that I would rather take a death at Mustafa's hands than be eaten by an angry, feral wyvern. When it shifted again, however, it was punctuated with one of those strained grunts.

It took me a moment to figure out what was going on, but I seized the opportunity when I did. _Sorry, Cordelia._ Gritting my teeth, I sat up and surveyed the area once more. This was my chance to kill Mustafa and win the fight, but I preferred something to do it with. My sword was nowhere in sight, perhaps buried in mud or even under this wyvern, but surely there was… Wait. _Is that…?_

If I squinted, I could make out the red handle of what appeared to be—of what I hoped to be—Mustafa's short axe. The wyvern shifted again, then slumped back into place. I had to beat him to the axe, but that wouldn't be too hard. After all, I was free and mobile, if a bit broken and damaged. It was all a matter of walking over there and snagging it.

My first attempt at getting to my feet went nowhere. The amount of effort I put in was nowhere near enough, and I realized in the midst of it that I could not move my left leg. Not without pain, at least. But a little bit of pain wasn't going to stop me here. Not when each shift of the wyvern grew in magnitude.

My second attempt was no better, but not for lack of trying. I gritted my teeth and pushed with my arms and good leg. I made it off the ground for just a second before the slick mud beneath my foot gave way and I slipped, falling on my ass. I hissed and did my best to keep from crying out at the sudden pain.

Then Mustafa gave the wyvern another push, and I almost swore when he almost got it on its side. He failed, much to my thanks, and rolled back onto him. His pained groan did nothing to abate my worry. His attempts were getting better while I was getting nowhere with mine. I needed get that axe first, and standing was not a possibility at this rate. I did not have the time.

I took a series of quick, light breaths, then flipped onto my side and started to drag myself through the mud. I was slow with a single arm and leg to work with, and progress came in short bursts, but there was progress. I closed the distance between myself and the axe while Mustafa came closer and closer to freedom.

The axe was past the wyvern's head, its hilt poking just past the snout. I edged around the dead beast and, as soon as I passed it, I looked for Mustafa. The Plegian General, face scrunched in exertion and pain, was using all of his strength to push away the massive wyvern. His arms gave out again, and the full weight of the bulky lizard fell back on him. I flinched as he coughed, but never looked away as I continued toward the axe.

 _It's so close!_

Seeming to sense my presence, Mustafa's head snapped to face me, his eyes wide in alarm. "You survived?" he muttered, then cursed and searched around him, likely for the very weapon that was just out of my grasp! His eyes returned to me and traced to where my fingers were brushing the red grip. "Gods—"

He didn't finish his sentence. His arms went back to the wyvern atop him one last time and he pushed with all of his might, mouth wide in a deep yell of strain. My fingers brushed against the grip once more before I lunged and wrapped my hands tight around it.

As he roared with power, muscles rippling as he tried with everything he had to escape, I propped myself up with the axe and shakily got to my feet. I hobbled over as he dropped the wyvern again, something crunching in the process. My free hand was on the wyvern, using it for extra support as I effectively used the short axe as a crutch.

The General didn't see me getting closer—his eyes were closed and his chest was rising in rapid, deep breaths—but I was sure he could hear the squelch of my feet in the mud. "Mustafa." As soon as I spoke, his eyes opened in a squint and he sighed. "It's over," I said, trying to sound strong and firm despite the pain that was burning over my body. I felt like I was on fire, and breathing was becoming harder. My chest was tighter than I remembered.

"So it would seem," he agreed, closing his eyes and lowering his head to the ground. "I always knew I would meet my end on the battlefield, but this is far from what I envisioned. I hoped it would be somewhere glorious, in the heat of battle. Not in the mud, trapped underneath a dead wyvern."

I didn't know what came over me then, but seeing his despondent expression and hearing his words sent a pang through me. "It doesn't have to end this way," I blurted. "You don't have to die today. I may be able to convince my commander to take you under our care as a prisoner of war."

He laughed, though it was more of a cough. "Perhaps you could, but I think that should not be the case. I will not be taken prisoner. If by some way the King found out I surrendered, he would not bother to spare my wife and child. I will not give away their lives to save my own. Besides," he said, waving to the lower half of his body, which was completely covered. "I am broken, son. There is no future for me anyway."

I wanted to convince him. He was the one Plegian that I wished we could spare on this path. He showed more empathy and kindness than most anybody back home. This man did not deserve this fate. "Is there no way I can convince you otherwise?"

"There is not."

I nodded somberly and, leaning more against the wyvern, raised the axe. "Do you have any last words?"

"Just that I commend your fighting spirit. I would rather fall to no foe less spirited than those who give their lives to save others. You defied the odds and came out on top. Well fought."

"To you as well." He gave me his best smile and closed his eyes again. His serene expression did not leave when I let the axe fall. I looked after him for a moment, then turned to walk back toward where I'd been laying. As I was rounding the wyvern's head, a cough ran through me.

 **Cordelia POV:**

I wiped my forearm across my forehead. Dylan and Virion were pursuing the final wyvern knight, who was desperate to keep away. This battle was all but over, and those two had it handled from here. While they dealt with that, I had to go and grab Robert. We had no time to waste when it came to getting a healer for him.

I turned Aurora to fly toward him and froze when I saw him missing. All that I saw was the dead wyvern, its broken body far from the only one of its kind here. Robert was nowhere to be seen, however, so my heart began to race. I swallowed a lump in my throat and urged Aurora lower. She went in to a dive, before swooping low over the ground with a tug of the reins as I searched for him.

I was passing over the wyvern when I him come stumbling around it, the axe in his hand dragging across the ground with each bumbling step. What was he doing up? I told him to stay put so his wound didn't bleed any worse than it was! Gods, he—where did he get the axe?

"Robert!" I called, whipping Aurora around to get to him. He didn't seem to hear me, though. Aurora lowered to the ground and slowed to a gallop. We were parallel with him when I called again and reached out. My fingers were inches from his muddied coat when he lurched and fell forward, his face hitting the mud and axe falling from his hand.

I cried out his name, stopped Aurora, then slid off to help him up. I pulled him from the mud and rolled him onto his back, prepared to do chest compressions again. I would revive him as many times as I needed to. He would not die for me, too. "Robert, are you—"

"Cordelia," he breathed, a faint smile gracing his face as ragged, raspy breaths escaped his lips. He was conscious still, thank the gods.

"No, don't talk," I said. If he was having trouble breathing, he didn't need to waste his breath on meaningless words. He didn't have time to talk now, either. Whatever he'd been doing while disobeying my orders had caused blood to once more start gushing from the cut along his stomach. "We need to get you out of here before that."

"Right."

I curled my arms under his and lifted. He winced at the touch, tensing noticeably, but I didn't stop. He tried to help, which made my job easier until he just sagged against me. I almost dropped him as he went limp. "Robert?" I shook him lightly. No response. Fear spiked in me and my breath hitched. "Robert?"

Again, nothing. I pulled him against me and held my ear near his lips. If he'd gone limp like that… No, he was still breathing. Each was rough and raspy, but I felt the air tickle my ear. That brought me no small relief. Now I just… I just had to get him onto Aurora and to a healer. _Please Gods, let the other Shepherds be close_. He would not die for me. Not him, too. I couldn't—

No, no, it would be alright. I took a calming breath and hoisted him higher. I had to get my entire weight under him. He was almost too heavy for me to lift otherwise. I half-dragged him over to Aurora, and propped him against her. I huffed, lifting him harder until he was almost level with the saddle and shoved. My hands moved to grab his shirt and keep him from tumbling over the other side.

Still holding him up, I took care as I moved my foot onto the stirrup and lifted myself onto Aurora. She huffed and snorted, displeased with the weight of two people. "Hold on, Robert," I murmured, then scooted him forward to swing my other leg over Aurora's back. I let out a sigh of relief at having gotten him up here. I laid him sideways, across my legs, and grabbed the reins. I kept one hand on him at all times, however, keeping his head elevated while I urged Aurora into the sky.

"Cordelia!" came Virion's voice, above and behind. I tilted my head to see him riding atop Dylan, bow slung over his shoulder and blue hair billowing in the wind. "Do you have Robert?"

"Yes, but we must hurry!" I yelled back. "He doesn't have much time."

"Fly ahead of us, then," the archer called. "Go southeast and fast. The others can't be too far ahead. We'll keep watch behind you."

"Thank you!" I said, and pushed Aurora faster. That eased some of my worry. With them covering us, there was nothing stopping me from driving Aurora as fast as she would go. Robert had no time to spare, so—

A flurry of ragged, angry coughs from Robert caught my attention. He cried out when the fit passed, clutching a hand to his side. I offered him my hand, and, either asleep or awake, he took it, squeezing tight whenever another fit took him. _Gods, Robert_.

"Cordelia, I—"

"No, no," I had to shout over the wind. "Don't talk now. Save your breath."

"No, I have to—"

"You have to save your breath," I repeated, keeping my eyes away. His tone was pained and desperate. I didn't want to see that look again, not in another friend's eyes. Not like this. "I'll get you to a healer soon."

Flying like this was hard. Last time I'd fought a brigade of wyvern riders like this, I'd lost my Pegasus and all of my Sisters. I ran. This time, I stayed and fought. We won, but still a loved one was on the verge of death. Why was fate cruel? Why couldn't the world be done playing with my emotions? I gulped and pushed the thoughts out of my head for now.

He wasn't dead yet, I reminded myself. He could be saved.

 **Krystal POV:**

"Hey," a soothing voice said as I was gently shaken. "You need to wake up, now."

My eyes open slowly, my vision still a little blurry but clear enough that I could see Sumia standing beside me. "What?" I was still on her Pegasus, and she was standing to the side with her hands up to keep me from falling.

"We're stopping here," the Pegasus knight said, then gestured for me to get down. I was tentative with my movements, reaching out with my foot to find the stirrup. Sumia helped me down from there, as I almost fell trying to swing my other leg over, and I swiftly found my feet on the ground.

I wanted to ask why—the question was on my lips—but a voice from the side caught my attention. "Robin, I do not believe this to be the best course of action." It was Frederick, stern-faced with his horse by his side.

"Frederick, I can't leave them out there," the tactician responded. She was better off than me, it seemed, her hands stuck defiantly in her pockets.

"I am sorry, but I do not see any way they could have survived," the great knight admitted, closing his eyes for a moment. When they opened, he said, "And now you are asking to send more Shepherds on a potential suicide mission."

"I am asking them to go on a potential _rescue_ mission," Robin corrected, a slight edge to her voice. "And I won't be sending them. They'll be volunteering. Now move out of my way, we're wasting time as it is."

"We cannot wait for the dead to catch up while the living are still in pursuit, Robin," Frederick said.

"Frederick, my plans have already cost one precious life today," the tactician said, losing her tone and going softer. "I cannot let more join her. If they are dead already, then the rescue party will return emptyhanded, and there will have been no point in sending them. However, if they are alive out there, clinging to life, and we don't send someone to help? They'll die anyway, and that is something I cannot allow. Move aside now."

Frederick hesitated, but stepped out of her way. The tactician went on to stand in front of all the Shepherds and announce her plan. Whoever went along would go back the way we came and scout the area for Dylan, Virion, Cordelia, and Robert while also staying hidden whenever possible. She asked for any volunteers, and four people raised their hands. Nowi, Gaius, Emile, and Sumia volunteered to go searching, most of them I assumed more for Virion and Cordelia than Dylan and Robert.

"Be careful," Robin said as they stood at the entrance of the town. "All of you. I know I am asking a lot."

"Don't worry about it," Nowi said, waving a hand nonchalantly. "We'll find them in no time without trouble and be back before you know it." Her cheer made Robin smile, but it looked tired.

"We'll find them," Sumia said, looking more determined than I'd seen her.

"Alright," the tactician said, nodding. "Good luck." And with that, the rescue party took off. We watched after them for a moment, Robin at the forefront of the group. After a minute, the Shepherds started leaving the street and returning to the plaza where we'd temporarily stationed ourselves. Robin was among the first to leave, pushing past many of the others with a new determination.

 **Cordelia POV:**

Robert had been coughing for a while. The wind in my ears was far too loud to hear him, but his spasms were enough to let me know. The length of his fits were increasing, which was alarming in itself, but I was startled when I felt something slick touch my hand.

His right hand had joined his left in holding onto mine, but his right hand was coated in blood from clutching his gut wound. He squeezed with both hands, not in pain, but more tenderly. I met his eyes, which were staring right at me.

He opened his mouth to speak, but another brief coughing spasm shook him, blood coming up with it. "Cordelia," he muttered, though I had to read his lips. His bloodied lips.

"Just hang on, Robert," I called, squeezing his hand back. I was gentle. He felt so fragile, with each heavy breath shaking his body. He didn't look heavy or even feel heavy anymore, like something had left him. His ashen face as he shook his head was not unlike a ghost.

"If…" he began. "If I don't make it, then—"

There was a breath between each word, furthering his weakened image. He looked as if he was just clinging to life. His blood was pooling in the saddle and soaking through my armour, the liquid no doubt turning my skin red. "You'll be fine," I said, but I wasn't sure if it was more for him or for me.

Suddenly, I felt his pale white hand snatch my shoulder in a stony grip.

"Y-y-you… need t-to know. I-in my poc-ck-ket, I m-made-e sure to-"

He broke out into yet another coughing fit, the worst so far. I could feel tiny drops of blood on my arms and on my face as he squeezed harder on my shoulder, his hand shaking from the effort. He was able to wipe off the excess blood on his sleeve, and tried again to speak, when I put a finger to his mouth.

"Whatever you have to tell me, it can wait until we land" I said faintly. All I received in turn was a light chuckle, still more feeling it than hearing it. Then came another spasm and coughing.

"N-not g-g-gonna make it t-that long," he said, his lips slurring it, making it hard to read. Tears were staining his face, and running down to mix in with the blood. "J-just know I l-left you someth-thing in my r-r-r-ight pocket." He finished, looking choked up, and took his hand away. Then he fell limp against me, his hands having let go and hanging. In an instant, I scooped up his left hand, feeling for a pulse. It was faint; the beats were inconsistent and weak. I looked near his chest for any signs of breathing, but it stayed locked. Motionless.

At that moment, my heart began to sink. I got him this far. He was not dying, not on my watch. "Gods, no, come on," I muttered, giving him a light shake, then a rougher one. He remained still, and I began to search the ground for any sign of life or something that could help us, could help him. Today was not his day to die. I knew it. I had to keep him alive, and gods willing, I was going to do it.

My eyes scanned everything, from the scattered copses of trees to the deep valleys and canyons, but nothing seemed to stand out to help him. Eventually, I could see a shape on the horizon. It was straight southeast and grabbed my attention. As we got closer, it began to spread out into a loose grouping of smaller shapes. Houses.

 _A town_! I realized excitedly, the hope smothered by his lacking heartbeat revitalized back into a dull glow. However, it was too far off, I needed to do something now to keep him alive long enough to make it there. I couldn't resuscitate him in the air, but if I landed…

I kept my eyes on the growing town and began to descend, searching for somewhere to land and move along the ground while I tried to bring his breathing back.

I eventually found a small clearing to right near the edge of town, and quickly descended, letting Aurora land in a gallop, accidentally knocking off onto the ground, letting him land heavily on his back. I quickly dismounted and ran over to him, and quickly started to give him chest compressions and breathed into his mouth, trying to revive him. Soon enough, I was shouting in frustration, nothing seemed to be working. "Come on dammit, Don't die on me!"

I had no idea how many times I repeated this process by the time I heard the voice. "Cordelia!" it shouted, and I tensed before recognizing the voice. "Where are you?"

"Sumia!" I called, frantic. "I'm down here!" I heard the fluttering of wings as her pegasus descended. She dismounted and rushed over, Gaius not a step behind her. "Thank the gods you're here," I cried. I wanted to ask where she came from, but could not care less at the moment.

"We saw you fly down here," Sumia explained, stepping to my side."Oh gods," she gasped, clapping a hand to her mouth at the sight of Robert's still form. "We-we need to get him to the town! The other Shepherds are there."

"He," I paused, getting a bit choked up. "He isn't breathing. His pulse was almost nonexistent when I last checked. We have to get him at least breathing again before we move him." I explained, compressing on his chest again.

Finally, as if by a miracle from Naga herself, he spasmed into a cough and began breathing again, however ragged and shallow it was. "C-Cordy…" my breath hitched, he was awake enough to actually speak. "C-CORDELIA!" He began to shout, "I can't see!" and he then broke into another, long coughing fit, followed by pained shouting and screaming.

A screech cut through the air, and we looked up to see Dylan flying overhead, toward the town. "We need to hurry," I said. "Help me get him up and onto Aurora." Sumia and Gaius nodded, kneeling down to help me lift him. I did what I could to help, but the two of them did all the work. I had no strength in me, something having sapped it all away.

Gaius and Sumia got him loaded up and I hopped on behind him, immediately breaking Aurora into a run. "We'll meet you there," Sumia shouted before she and Gaius ran back to her pegasus. Her voice barely carried over Robert's pained shouts.

As we took the the air, I saw two shapes lowering toward the town. I assumed one was Dylan and was far too unfocused to care about the other.

I looked down at Robert, who was coughing and convulsing and bleeding and… _dying_. Gods I wanted to tear my eyes away. We were so close to saving him. So damn close. I wanted to look away and save myself from witnessing his death, too. So soon I'd witnessed all of my Sisters die, then Phila and Emmeryn. I couldn't… _Gods please save him. I can't take losing him, too…_

 **Emile POV:**

Nowi and I landed less than a second after Dylan and Virion. Without even speaking to them, we understood their urgency. She slid along the ground, I hopped off and she transformed back before stopping, landing in a roll. Dylan was standing a few feet away, still in his bird form. The archer was already dismounted, calling, "Where are the others?" His voice was urgent, void of all regality and measure.

"Center of town," I replied, running up to him and pointing ahead. "What's going on?" He didn't respond, instead pointing to the sky behind me and sprinting down the way I'd pointed, bow slung over his shoulder. As I turned around to see what he pointed at, I heard him call for Lissa and Maribelle. As for what he gestured to, there were two figures in the sky. One was much closer than the other, but both were rapidly closing in. I couldn't tell what they were from this distance, but could take an educated guess.

Before long, one of the pegasi came in hot, Cordelia at the reins. She slid the beast to a stop, whoever was on her lap damn near falling off in the process. "Help me!" she cried, tears streaming down her face while she barely held him up. As I rushed over to do just that, I recognized the limp form as a battered, unconscious Robert. I held him up while she slid off before assisting me in lowering him to the ground. This answered my question well enough.

Just then, a rush of footsteps came toward. I glanced up, and backed away as Lissa and Maribelle both ran up with their staves in hand. I stayed out of the way, unsure of what to do. Cordelia managed to snag my attention, which wasn't hard as I kept it directed away from where Maribelle and Lissa worked through the blood.

The Pegasus knight was frantic, words coming from her mouth faster than I could understand them. Her hair clung to her face, sticking to the tears. Maribelle pushed her away more than once, the red-head's hands getting in the way as she tried to do what she could to help. Her hands shook, however, and she was only a hindrance.

My feet moved before I did, going toward Cordelia. I was going to pull her out of the way so the healers could do their work without disruption, but a violent cough shook Robert. Her rose off the ground, the healers pushing him back down, but he wasn't done. His eyes shot open and he scanned the faces around him. His eyes never lingered on our faces however, until they reached Cordelia's, at which point his hand patted his right side aggressively, searching for something.

Lissa tried to still him, grabbing his arm, but he found what he was looking for. His hand dug through his pocket before pulling out a fistful of matching silver wings. A gasp went through the small crowd of gathered people, which was growing by the second as more—Shepherds or otherwise—pooled into the area. It took me a moment to realize what they were, but a quick glance to the very same wings that were in Cordelia's and Sumia's hair secured my assumption.

"Cordy," the fading mercenary sputtered, more than a little blood having come up with that last cough. "Th—these are—" Before he could finish his sentence, his arm went limp and fell to his side, dropping the wing pins.

Cordelia began to scream, then. Loud, worried, and scared. Her hands reached out again, but I pulled her away before she got in the healer's way again. "Let me go!" she yelled, struggling against me. I had my arms hooked her under hers, however, and my grip was secure. "I—I have to—"

"Get her out of here," Lissa yelled. It seemed everyone was shouting now. I pulled the despairing Pegasus knight back further and further while she beat against me. We made our way through the growing crowd, people eager to move out of our way and take our place. Her voice was getting harder to hear over the murmurs of curious bystanders, but I still heard Lissa yell, "We can't work here! We need to get him back to the camp!"

It didn't take a detective to figure out what happened to him. We'd figured he and the others would be dead, despite hoping against it. We should have been grateful he was even alive. That _any_ of them were still alive. Even still… seeing was different.

 **AN: As you can see, I'm bad at cliffhangers. Bad at endings to things in general, really, but here we are. Anyway, today on Fractured and Burned, Robert got his shit pushed in. First Mustafa almost guts him, then he gets a wyvern thrown at him, then his asthma acts up. Wicked shit, I know. And no, that scene at the beginning is not Plot convenience. If you didn't guess it already—in which case, good job ya fuckin gumshoe—it will be explained later on. I don't do plot convenience. And yes, as I'm sure some of you have noticed, screen time has been a little scarce for a few characters lately. At least, screen time in their POV. This will be remedied soon enough, I assure you.**

 **But, yeah. The Outrealms. A** _ **little**_ **off track from which way the game goes, I know, but the way things played out—well, let me explain. I don't think I made it very clear, but to simplify things, the Shepherds acted as a sort of under-the-radar strike force for the Feroxi-Ylissean Alliance. Their job was simply to get past enemy lines and stop the execution in time while the main army—consisting of Feroxi and Ylissean soldiers—held off the main Plegian army. Basilio and Flavia led the main army, which is why neither of them were present for the execution and an escape route was not present. The nearest, safest place is then to the south, toward the Outrealm gate.**

 **Also, yeah, Emm fucking exploded. That's a bit of a deviation, as well. I, uh, I didn't plan for that when I started this story, to tell the truth. But I've also changed my plans since I started, so adjustments are necessary.**

 **As always when I get to the author's note, there are things I forget. I'll probably mention them in later chapters, but for now, if anybody has any questions about the story, feel free to PM me. Last thing I'd want is for things to make no sense for you guys. And yeah, there are bound to be a few grammatical errors. Not because of my own misunderstanding of the rules, but because I refuse to proofread. Sorry if they're disruptive, though.**

 **And I know I've said this before, but I truly appreciate that you guys enjoy this story enough to stick around. Through all my rambling and shit, thank you. Angel, I am glad that I was able to rekindle something in you that allowed you to want to continue writing on your own. That, paired with the fact that you and Zexal so excitedly await my chapters that you stay up to read them as late as you do, brings a smile to my face every time I think about it. You guys, and possibly others who do the same but choose not to review, are wonderful. Thank you again.**

 **Also, I'm looking for art for this. I think I mentioned this awhile back, but I am not a good enough artist to accomplish what I want—as you can see by my excellently drawn profile picture. I mean, I don't even have a proper cover art, yet. So, if anyone who read this far has enough time, skill, and willingness to help me out, hit me up.**

 **And lastly, I have to give credit where credit is due. Stormrider was more than a little help with a fairly large portion of this chapter, so thank him that this turned out as good as it did. Hell, even the title was made by him. Big help, that guy, so give him some love.**

 **Anyway, that's all for this fatass AN. See you all in two weeks—or PM to cut that time considerably. Wink Wink.**

 **All of the Oats have left the building.**


	23. Chapter 22: I'm Fine

**Fuckin cliffhangers, man. I tell ya, after last chapter it occurred to me that not only am I barely passable at doing them, but I do them FAR too frequently. To remedy this, I am going to strain to prevent myself from doing any more cliffhangers for the next… I don't know, let's say until the beginning of the Valm arc.**

 **Anyway, we're back. Into the Outrealms,**

 **Sumia POV:**

"Cordelia?" I called through the door, leaning against it to keep my balance in spite of the rocking ship. Robin told me to check in on her, and I was more than a little worried myself.

She'd never been one to seclude herself, but in the port town where we caught this ferry, she hid in her tent and didn't speak a word to anybody. As soon as she was assigned her room aboard the ferry, she locked herself inside, refusing to come out. Even as dinner time came and passed, no one had seen her. That was when Robin asked me to check in on her. I didn't think anything of it at the time, other than that this behavior was a little odd for Cordelia. She was usually the diligent one, so I couldn't help but wonder what had gotten her in such a funk as I walked down the hallway.

I called again, knocking on her door. Again, there was no response. I frowned, but waited for a few seconds. Maybe she was just asleep? Or she didn't hear me? I did knock fairly softly, so she may not have heard me. After a brief time, I knocked again, harder, and called for her.

For the third time, there was nothing. It was then that I truly grew worried. I knew, for sure, that I called loud enough for her to hear, and knocked loud enough that she would have to wake up. When I didn't hear anything, however, panic settled in my chest. Possibilities began to race through my mind, only the worst rising to the surface when—

"Sumia?" I almost jumped. It took me a moment to register her voice, choked and muffled through the door, but it was undoubtedly Cordelia. I let out a relieved sigh, like a weight left my chest. "One moment."

I don't know what I was expecting to see when she opened the door—clothes strewn about, miscellaneous objects lying around, her hair messy and disheveled—but was glad to see that the room, while dark, looked none the worse for wear, nor did she. No, the only thing on the floor was her pack with a handful of scattered shiny objects, and she was wearing the linen clothes that she usually wore under her armor. By the looks of things, she hadn't changed since arriving in town with Robert—wait a minute.

"What's wrong?" she asked, giving me a strange look. I blinked, realized I'd been staring, then took a misplaced step just as the ship lurched. I lost balance, squeaking as I pitched to the side. Cordelia's hand snagged my arm before I fell far, though, sighing and saying, "Careful, there."

"Thank you, but um…" What was I saying before? "A-Are you doing alright?" It was weird asking her this for once. Usually it was her asking me after a fall, a blunder, or at the worst, when my failures would get to me. She'd asked if I was okay more times than I could count over the years, so asking the same of her felt strange. Misplaced. Still… "You've been in your room all day and haven't talked to anybody since we boarded. We've been worried."

She raised an eyebrow, looking genuinely confused. "Worried? I can't have been too long. I've only been in here an hour or two at most."

"Cordelia," I said, surprised, "the sun is setting."

 **Robin POV:**

"How are they doing?" I asked, looking behind me to make sure Tharja wasn't following me as I closed to door with my foot. I followed close to Lissa with a tray of food and that new girl—Calliope, I believe was her name—hovered fairly close, as well, having taken the other tray I brought off my hands. I was grateful for the help, as I'm sure Lissa was. It was only the two of them in the infirmary room, but the only injured were Robert and Dylan, so they said they could handle it.

"They're… better," Lissa admitted. "Dylan especially." She waved over to where the winged-man was resting in the corner, sitting up on his bedroll. He regarded me with a slight nod. He was covered in bandages as a result of his injuries. The burns he'd sustained at… right, the burns and then the other wounds during the fight with the wyverns together were quite a toll. "Robert, well, he's also better."

I looked away from Dylan—Calliope moved over to him, anyway, cutting him from my view—and to where Robert lay. As far as I could tell, he hadn't changed much. He wasn't bleeding anymore, thankfully, and Libra and Maribelle had managed to close his wounds with their Mend staves. They'd also managed to wash him of the blood and mud that coated most of his entire body in the first town we'd stopped at. "That's good," I said. "He's been through a lot." Just while working with us, he'd taken more damage than most of the Shepherds combined. The only ones I would say came anywhere close were Zach and Emile, but they hadn't had a wyvern thrown at them. And he'd told Chrom he was new to mercenary work?

"He's lucky to have survived, honestly," Lissa agreed. As she knelt down to check his bandages and disinfect the minor wounds the staffs hadn't healed, she reviewed what ailed him. "In just one battle, he got a few broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, a deep cut along his stomach and numerous minor cuts nearly everywhere else."

I felt horrible. This could have been avoided, all of it. I was responsible. "How long will he be bedridden, do you think?" I hated to ask. I couldn't bear to hear it, to hear how much time I would cost him and how much energy and time I would cost Lissa and the other healers dealing with him. But I had to ask, to at least keep up appearances for their sake.

"Well," she stopped re-wrapping his bandages, "if we'd had Recovers on hand then he may even be up and moving by now, but Mends can only do so much." The sprightliness that usually tinged her voice was replaced by weariness and dreary fatigue. She'd just lost her sister and now she was working so soon after. Both were my fault. Both were my responsibility to fix. "He hasn't woken up yet, either, so I'm guessing perhaps another week or two? Give or take a few days, depending on when he wakes up among other things."

"That long, huh." I had to get her out of here. "And what about you, Lissa? How are you doing?"

The question surprised her enough to get her to whirl around as she stood. Now that we were face to face and I could get a good look at her, well, it was like a knife twisted in my gut. Her sunken features and the dark bags under the sullen eyes that her mock smile at my question failed to reach. "Me?" she asked, trying to put her peppiness back in her tone, but to no avail. "I'm fine, just a bit tired is all. Why?"

"I don't think you should be in here anymore," I said, trying to be as gentle as possible. My hand rested on her shoulder and I felt her tense up. "Go rest. I'm sure Maribelle or Libra could take over for you."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "They both worked with Robert and Dylan all of yesterday."

"Then let me do it," Calliope said from behind me. I didn't bother looking back, instead gesturing to the volunteer. Lissa looked about to protest but Calliope cut her off. "Please, my Lady, I insist. You need to get away from this gloomy place for a while. I can hold down the fort while you're gone. Besides, Dylan's a bit gruff but he isn't the worst of company." The winged man huffed in response but otherwise said nothing.

It took both of us staring her down to finally convince her, but Lissa eventually gave in, throwing her hands up and sighing. "Fine, I'll take a break." The false-sarcasm already had her sounding a bit like herself, but I knew she wouldn't get better just like that. Her weariness was going to take time.

When I was sure she'd left, I turned to Calliope, who was putting away the disinfectants that Lissa had used. "Thank you," I said, and she smiled brightly. "I really appreciate it. I just didn't want her in here after—" My fault.

"I understand," she said, nodding. Her smile was welcoming and truly cheerful. I was glad someone could see through this depressing fog that seemed to hang over the rest of us. "I can tell you like to look after them all, so the least I could do was help you out." I was just beginning to walk away when she said, "Oh, one more thing."

"Yes?"

"You should take your own advice and rest. I think Mister Libra phrased it as 'tired work is not admired work.'" I had to smile at that. "Something like that." She waved the thought away. "My point is, you look just as tired as Princess Lissa. You owe yourself rest, too."

Hardly. "I'll keep that in mind," I said, anyway. "I'll get some rest tonight."

"You'll get some rest now," Calliope said, a challenging smirk on her face as she pointed a vulnerary at me. "Healers order, Lady Robin." I scoffed, rolling my eyes but she didn't look away. I couldn't tell if she was serious or not, but it wasn't worth the argument if she was. Besides, I could work from my room. Planned to anyway.

"Fine, fine, I concede." I raised my hands in defeat and walked away. "I'll get some rest right away."

 **Sumia POV:**

"You missed dinner so Robin sent me to check in on you. Take a look for yourself," I said, pointing to the window in her room. The curtain was drawn in front of it, letting in even less light than the dusk sky would have normally.

My friend turned around and walked back through her room, stepping a wide circle around where her pack was. I followed, trying to get a good look at what the little specks of silver dotting the floor by her pack were as I walked by. My eyes snapped back to Cordelia, though, as she drew back the curtain covering her small window and let in the warm orange light of the sunset.

"Oh," she said. That was all she said for a moment, before she let out a great sigh. "Oh, gods, I hadn't realized it got so late. I am terribly sorry, Sumia, for worrying you and the others like this I—" she pulled a few strands of hair into her sight and frowned. "I must look dreadful. Will you tell the others that there is nothing to worry about for me? I promise I didn't mean to worry you all I just—I got distracted is all."

That wasn't reassuring at all. Not in the slightest. If anything, I was more worried than before, and it must have shown, because Cordy sighed again and placed her hands on her hips. "What?"

"Cordy, you never get distracted." I said. It was true. We'd known each other since we were just girls, only dreaming of stuff that we were now living through. In all that time, I was the one to forget things, slip up, or lose track of time. She was always, precise, diligent, and brilliant—it was the reason she was accepted to be a Pegasus Knight before me. Not once did she falter in all that time, and there was no way she could just "get distracted." "Something is on your mind. You never get like this."

I held her gaze for what felt like a long time. Her relaxed expression made me feel a bit silly for the serious stare I was giving her, but darn it, I persisted. Something was wrong here, and—oh, her eyes shifted! Where did she look? I glanced to the side, then turned my head to follow where I assumed she looked until I saw…

"Pins? Wing Pins?" Where had she gotten them? I took another look at her, confirming that she was wearing her pair, but that was only two of the 14 silver wings littered across the floor.

"I'm not sure who they all belong to," she said, moving and kneeling down. "Not exactly, but I know they belong to the Pegasus Knights with Phila who didn't survive long enough for us to rescue them. I never—I couldn't get them myself so I don't know which pins belong to who. But that's what I've been doing all day: trying to figure that out so at the very least their families can have something to remember them by when we get back to Ylisse."

Unbelievable. I'd figured some had died while held captive—their numbers during Robin's plan were not nearly large enough—but this confirmed it. I knew Cordelia was speaking right now, explaining to me the various differences between the pins and what each separate pile was, but I couldn't process her words. Couldn't actually hear them.

No, I couldn't think of the dead Pegasus Knights. Cordelia's dead comrades. They could have been her. Any one of them. If she hadn't fled to warn us at Breakneck Pass, or if she had gone back with Exalt Emmeryn, or even if she'd joined in with them during Robin's rescue plan. Any of these and I would have lost my closest, oldest friend here.

I looked at her pins, then those she had gathered on the floor, and my hand drifted up to the pair still in my hair. I did not want to hear about the pins anymore. Not right now. We needed to talk about something else. Someone else. Not the dead. "Wait," I said, cutting off whatever she was saying. She looked back up at me, then, her hand retreating from the pin she was just pointing to. "You said you didn't grab them, but here they are. Who did?" I couldn't remember off the top of my head who was in her group to rescue the other Knights.

"Robert did, though I never saw him do it," she told me, averting her eyes. Her hand moved back to the pin and started stroking along the wing. The gesture was strange, but she'd been acting weird all day so I thought nothing of it. "He must have went back just as we were leaving, but I have no idea why. Perhaps for the same reason as I am sorting through them now." She shrugged. "Maybe that's why I'm doing it now, in case he—" She took a sharp breath, her voice hitching, then let it out slowly. Her eyes closed, like she was asleep, before in slow, careful words, she said, "No, Robert is fine. He is strong." I froze.

Her eyes were still closed, and they stayed that way for quite some time. Her breathing was slow, deep, and even. I would have thought she'd fallen asleep were it not for the way her one hand had clenched into a fist while the other was still stroking the wing pin.

I couldn't talk. Words escaped me. This was suddenly familiar. It was like when we were twelve, when she hurt her sparring partner. When she didn't hear word of whether her friend would live. When she thought she'd killed her friend. When all she could do to compose herself was close her eyes, take slow breaths, and repeat to herself. "Alincia is fine. She is strong. Alincia is fine. She is strong." If this was like then…

"Cordelia?" I said softly, easing toward her. "Cordy?" My hands touched her closed fists and her lip trembled. I sat down next to her as slow as I could and closed my hand around her fist.

"…is strong. Robert will be fine. He is strong. Robert will…" Her words were almost silent, fading in and out with her breaths, but it was still painfully obvious.

"Yes," I said, wrapping my other arm around her shoulder and pulling her to me. I more ended up pulling myself to her, but I did what I could. "He will be fine. He is strong, Cordy. He _is_ strong." I was useless last time she was like this. I couldn't help her at all. All I could do was watch herself try and convince herself that she didn't kill her friend. She was right then, and she was right now. But this time, I was here to help her realize that.

"Robert will…" her voice was interrupted by a sob.

"I know," I said, pulling her head to my chest as more sobs came. "I know he will, honey." I couldn't make out her words anymore. The crying took priority. That was good. "Robert will be fine. Before you know it, he'll be up and in fighting form." She finally broke down completely, throwing her arms around me and dragging me into a full embrace.

 _Robert better get better. If he leaves Cordelia like this, I will never let him rest in peace_.

 **Emile:**

The mood had improved slightly by the time we arrived at the Outrealm Gate. For some of us, at least. While most of the Shepherds were only being dragged lower and lower, the few of us who were fairly close to the guy received a small bit of reprieve with the news that Robert had woken up during the night before landfall. Something about the way he coughed himself out of his coma or whatever it was made Maribelle and the new healer girl suspicious of his lungs, however, so they kept him pretty quarantined, even after we'd landed.

Either way, it was a bit of good news that was completely deafened by the overwhelming disappointment of the town just outside the Gate. As expected of a town surrounding a skyscraping Gate leading to more business opportunities than all of the mineral mines in the Americas combined, it was filled to the absolute BRIM with redheads.

Every damn step we took, we gained another Anna on our tail, trying to sell us stupid trinkets or overpriced products rumoured to have various magical effects or legends affixed to them. I did my best to ignore them—the angry, frustrated shouting of the healers as they kept the merchants from Robert—but I could not help myself from wondering if any of these Annas were the one that we'd met way back in Ferox.

Huh. Funny. Ferox felt so far away now. It felt like we'd come so much farther than we had. How long had we been going for now?

While Robin and Frederick asked a few of the Annas—Frederick resorting to threaten one of them—how to use the Outrealm Gate, the rest of us determined the order in which we would enter. We had no idea what lay beyond the massive Gate, but prepared for the worst and put Robert, our healers, and those otherwise incapable of fighting at the moment in the middle of the group. The Vanguard consisted of Chrom, Zach, Krystal and myself. All volunteers, strangely enough. I didn't know their reasoning, but personally I…

It was my fault that we didn't save Emm. I thought it—she wasn't supposed to just…

No, no. I girded myself. I had to stay strong here, at least for this battle. I'd carry a burden so they didn't have to. I made sure my expression was hardened and determined, my spear fastened tight across my back, and my posture tall when Robin and Frederick got back.

"You're all heading in first, then?" Robin asked, looking each of the four of us in the eyes while clutching a small brown pouch. Her eyes softened when her eyes got to either Chrom or Zach. It was impossible to tell which, because the tenderness was gone in the blink of an eye. "Good. Now to open the Outrealm Gate, we need to use…" She undid the string keeping the pouch in her hand closed, and dumped its content onto her hand. Spilling out was an electric blue orb with gray-white stones jutting from the top, making a teardrop-like shape. "This."

"What is it?" I asked.

"This is a Member Pass," the tactician said, then pointed the stone end toward the Gate. The blue orb pulsed, shining briefly. "The only way in and out of the Outrealms, and it cost a pretty penny, so we have to choose wisely."

"Wait, what?"

"We can only choose one Outrealm to go to and back from," Robin elaborated. "That's all I paid for. After that, we have to pay again."

"Any ideas to where we're going, then?" Chrom asked. "Or will we just have to wait and see?"

"The Anna who sold us this gave a few suggestions," Robin said, shrugging, "but I think that can wait. We can see more options when we get to the Gate itself, and we should probably get a move on." Were we in a hurry anymore? I had no idea. Normally we'd be well on our way to Ferox, but so much had gone wrong or differently. Gods.

The Gate itself was imposing in size, which only proved to be more true the closer we got to it. When we finally arrived, I was in awe. The towering stone circle was a miracle of architecture. There was no way it was structurally sound. Then again, what did I know. It did have a swirling vortex of blues and whites in the middle of it, so maybe logic was out the window.

At its base, there was a stand run by yet another perky Anna. She had no wears to speak of, it seemed, however, and there were no other shops this close to the Gate, so perhaps our money was safe.

Robin walked up with the Member Pass and showed it to the peppy merchant, who immediately jumped to her feet and reached under her stand to pull out three brochures and spread them out on the table. "Here are your options," she explained, pointing to each of the brochures. "This one," she said, opening the first one, "is by far the largest selection. Each Realm is host to a fighting tournament between heroes from various other realms and time periods. Based on your friends, though…" the merchant took a quick look over our tired, battered, depressed company and shut the brochure. "You aren't looking for a fight right now. In fact, that pretty much knocks this one off the table, too."

She swept the first and third brochures away, tucking them safely away under her stand again. "What you want is in here!" Flipping open the last brochure showed us various different scenarios, ranging from beaches to winter and autumn festivals to hot springs. "The ultimate rest and relaxation experience, complementary with fun games, group pictures and gifts fitting the occasion of each destination. What do you think?"

Robin took a moment of deliberation, then looked to each of the four of us. "What do you guys want? You're going in first, so it's only fair."

"Hot Spring," Zach said without hesitation, surprising all of us. It was the first time he'd spoken in a while. "I'm sick of sand and we could all use a good bath."

"I'm inclined to agree," Robin said, and Chrom nodded. Personally, I was leaning more toward the one titled 'Harvest Festival'. I was never one much for steam, and the reds and oranges of autumn looked great, but this was what they wanted. I wouldn't take this from them too. I agreed, and it was decided. "'Hot Spring Scramble', then," the tactician said, handing the Member Pass over to Anna.

"Good choice," she said, tucking away the last brochure. "Everybody always has a good time there." I had a feeling that she would say that no matter where we chose, but said nothing. It was obvious anyway.

The merchant tapped the stone part of the Member Pass against the slated wall of the Gate and both lit up. The orb shined brighter than before and the vortex in the middle of the Gate spun faster and faster until it stopped, warping the air to show us an image of stone floors, steaming baths and pink-leaved trees. "All set," the merchant cheered, tossing the Pass back to Robin and returning to her stand. "I'll shut the Gate myself once you're all through, so don't worry about anyone being left behind. Don't lose your pass inside, though," she said, waving a cautious finger. "That's your only ticket back here."

"Alright," Robin said, stuffing the Pass into her coat pocket. "You're up." The four of us stepped up to the Gate and, sharing a moment of self-reflection in case something went wrong and I was turned inside out or torn apart, we closed our eyes and stepped through.

It was instant, and with a flash of light and a sound like a sonic boom, we arrived. "Hiya," came a cheerful voice from our side, and I opened my eyes to see—gasp—another Anna. "Welcome to the Bath Realm!"

 **Alright, so we made it. To the Outrealm, at least. A bit of emotion in this chapter, hope I pulled it off as well as I wanted. It's mostly guilt, so I of all people should know how to write that. Little bit of scaffolding for the future. Honestly, most of this chapter went nowhere I planned. Roughly 80% of it came as I went along. That hasn't happened in a while.**

 **Yes, I know its short and yes, I know its late, but I promise the late part isn't my fault. See, I don't have wifi, so I have to upload using a hotspot from my phone. Well sometimes, mr. hotspot decides to fuck me over and not work worth shit. It fails to load even GOOGLE, so yeah. That happened last night and I had to wait until I had internet at school this morning to actually post it. Either way, my apologies.**

 **Um, I have to admit, no small part of my writing comes influenced from the way ThreeDollarBratwurst writes. I'd highly recommend checking him out because oof, I can't say there is a fic on here that I more await reading.**

 **And no, it isn't a cliffhanger.**

 **All of the Oats have left the Building.**


	24. Chapter 23: Seeing Red

**Disclaimah: I ain't own schit.**

 **Zach POV:**

"We have to what now?" Chrom asked, his tone tired and dry. The others were coming through the gate now, and a plethora of Annas stood around in a crowd asking us to…

"You have to put your name in a ballot!" one of the Annas—the first Anna, that greeted us when we'd arrived—cheerfully said, holding out a small slip of paper and what looked to be a modern pencil. She had a silver bucket tucked under her arm, as well. Noticing the confused and curious looks from the four of us, she decided to elaborate. "In some of the Outrealms, we like to hold ballots for our occupants with different rewards depending on the realm. In many of them, we offer clothes customary to the realm. For instance, in the beach realm we give custom bathing suits to the winners, and here we give out yukatas."

"Yukatas?" Emile asked. "What is that?" He had to practically shout over the crowd here. We Shepherds were far from the only people. There was an overabundance of tourists crowding the area, and the talking between them and the other Annas was abhorrently loud.

"This is a yukata," Anna said, tugging the light fabric of her own kimono. It was a shade of red identical to her hair—which was tied back in its usual secret seller ponytail—and hemmed with a reddish black. As she further explained yukatas, I observed the rest of the area around us and wondered how many times the word 'yukata' would be used in this conversation.

Every single Anna in the area around us looked identical to the one in front of us, which was to be expected, but it was a little weird. I hadn't gone into town before the Outrealm, so this was my first experience with this weird scene. All of their identical voices made a unique, inimitable choir of salespeople. Things could be worse, though. We could be surrounded by undead warriors trying to kill us in a barren desert instead of cute redheads in kimonos trying to sell us merchandise in some Fire Emblem version of Japan.

Yeah, this was definitely an improvement. Hot springs and sakura trees were preferable to sand and more sand.

"I'll put my name in," I blurted, cutting Anna off in the middle of whatever she was saying. Anna flashed a bright smile at me and handed me the slip of paper. I signed my name and handed it back, and she dropped it into the bucket. She turned to the others who were staring at me like I'd done something wrong. "What?" I asked, suddenly sheepish. "What's the worst that could happen? We don't get a prize? It's worth a try, at least."

I tried to make up for it, but cursed myself mentally while exchanging looks with Emile and Krystal—Krystal? Her hair was supposed to be red, though, not whi—Wait. It was red. What was I…? I shook my head, rubbing at my eyes. Lack of sleep was making me see things.

Robin suspected me of corroborating with these two, Robert, and Dylan. I had to be careful and keep myself from standing out too much. That, and Chrom looked pretty pissed that I'd accepted her offer. Did Robin tell him what she'd told me?

I was still pissed about—no, I wasn't. I wasn't angry anymore, but it still hurt. Yeah, it had only been a month or so, but I thought we had—

I pushed the thought from my head and cleared my throat. The others put their names in the ballot as well and we walked off. As we passed the first Anna, she said, "The winners will be announced tonight at midnight." Then she snagged my arm and, in the din of her sisters collecting the names of the other Shepherds, said, "Thanks for making my job easier. Your friends may not have gone for the ballot if you hadn't. For that, I might just put the odds in your favor."

"Thanks," I replied, faking a smile. "I need some luck on my side." She winked, then walked over to the remaining Shepherds, calling them over to sign up. She and her sisters seemed to be competing for sign-ups, whoever could get the most. I watched them for a moment before following after Chrom, Emile, and D-Krystal. That was Krystal. _But I could have sworn…_

"What made you decide to take up her offer?" Emile asked as I walked up. Chrom had already walked off.

" _What made you decided you include me in your plans and jeopardize my bond with Robin?_ " is what I wanted to say, but decided against doing in public, surrounded by the other Shepherds and Annas. Instead, holding back my glare, "Felt like we could use a little fun," was what I said.

Suppressing my tone could have used a little work, however, as he and Krystal exchanged a look after I said it. Neither of them looked about to mention it, though, so I walked off. I had blood, dirt, and frustration to wash off.

 **Ω:**

The baths were… calming, to say the least. It was a bit tumultuous to get here, though. I almost got the public area confused with the bathing area, and would have embarrassed myself en masse if not for a single Anna overlooking the pool. I thanked her, my face painted red, and followed her to the correct spot.

Despite this, I was able to relax. The various scented soaps and the nearly steaming water were divine, a blessing in their own right. I still had a lot on my mind, but physically, I was at ease. It felt good to let my sore muscles loosen after the constant strain in the past few weeks. Actually, now that I thought about, things had been stressful ever since we left Ferox. Everything was rushed, everything had high stakes. From saving Maribelle to defending the castle in Ylisstol to coming (and failing) to save Emmeryn, we had little to no downtime.

And that was just the physical strain. The mental strain was unreal. I hadn't ever been put under as much pressure as I had since coming to Ylisse. Fuck, between Robin, keeping my secret, dealing with the other people from Earth, fighting the living dead, Dawn, and these goddamn nightmares, my mind was more muddled than it's ever been, and then some. Ah, but I didn't want to think about that now. Last thing I wanted while trying to relax was to start crying in the bath. That would just be sad. Figuring this to be a good time to get out, I stepped out of the water.

I distracted myself by deciding what I would do with my hair. Normally I would part it to the side, but it had gotten quite a bit longer in the past month. Maybe I should… tie it up? But with what? I had no ties or anything on me, or—never mind, fuck it.

I took advantage of one of the tears in my shirt and tore it all the way at the sleeve. It was cut to shit, and I would just buy a new one if we got back to Ylisstol. I took the torn strip and tied it tight around my hair. Hell, before it curled and frizzed up, my ponytail reached about to my shoulders.

When I was finally satisfied with how it looked, I stepped out of the bathing room only for realization to dawn on me. "Aw, fuck." In the empty hall, I occurred that I had no clue where the other Shepherds were. Well, the only way I knew through this place was toward the public area, and that was probably my best bet anyway.

I wandered through the halls and corridors in this miniature town. Honestly, it was beautiful, maybe the most beautiful place I'd ever been to. Wonderfully scented smoke and steam rose into the twilight sky, above the blossoming sakura trees. I could not imagine somewhere more serene. _What are they using to make scented smoke?_ I wondered. _Some sort of incense, or…?_

I could hear voices coming from ahead of me, which was a good sign. They were too far away to hear over even my footsteps on the stone pathway, but as I got closer, they became more distinct. It was reassuring at first, but then the voice turned into shouting, and I put a bit of speed into my step. Shouting probably meant nothing here, perhaps bickering between the Shepherds. It could have even been the Annas, shouting out specials for their shops or yelling out their prices. Literally anything. After these last two weeks, though, I wasn't going to put it to chance. I patted my side to make sure my Killing Edge was still in place.

Suddenly, a scream pierced the air. You best believe I started running.

 **Emile POV:**

"We can't catch…catch a break," I muttered to myself, slipping my spear off my back. Krystal stood next to me, flipping open her Flux.

Terrified tourists ran past me. Annas followed along, corralling them down the streets and waving them to a "safe area". At least, that was what they were shouting. A few of the Annas stood beside Krystal and I, swords, spears, or bows drawn.. What were all of the tourists running from?

Sprinting toward us with their swords drawn was a horde of Risen. Not a single one didn't have a sword, reminiscent of the ambush on our camp back in the desert, but these didn't wear the cloaks and their swords weren't curved. It put my heart at ease.

"Krystal," I said, waving her back with my free arm, "get behind—"

Before I could continue, the Annas formed a wall of swords and spears in front of us. The bow wielding merchants formed up behind them and started raining arrows at the charging Risen. "Stay behind us," one of them said, firing off an arrow. She looked at us out of the corner of her eye and gave us a tense smile. "You're our clients. We would be remiss to let this intrusion get in the way of your vacation."

"I… thank you."

"Don't think too much of it," another Anna said. "Consider it a business interest."

A roar in the sky caught our attention, and we all looked up to see a yellow-green dragon circle overhead. Riding on its back was our snow-haired tactician, who shot a few bolts of lightning at the Risen horde which just crashed into the braced wall of Annas. "Get to the center of town," Robins shouted, shooting more Thunder. It took me a moment to realize that she was talked to us, and I tugged Krystal with me.

I didn't know my way around this town, but it was small, and center was usually pretty easy to find. Normally, I would have had to move slower to make sure Krystal kept up, but with my limp, well, it took no effort to move her speed.

The smoke and steam filling the air had now mixed with the purple smoke from fallen Risen. It ruined the aesthetic appearance of the area, tinting the orange and purple sky to a bright, glowing pink. In the distance, the Annas were still fighting the Risen in the street, based on the clashing of steel on steel. At least, I hoped they were still fighting. They seemed competent at first, but great numbers could weigh anybody down. Distracted by my thoughts, I would have missed a very helpful indicator if not for Krystal.

"Emile!" she shouted, tugging on my sleeve and down a side street. Running down the street was another chaotic cluster of fleeing tourists with Annas guiding them. "We can follow them."

I nodded, and we ran up to the alley leading between our two streets. One of the Annas stood in the middle of the alley opening, waving people on with her free hand while her other held a sword in a white-knuckle grip. Her yukata clung to her with sweat from the steam and effort of guiding these terrified customers. It occurred to me now that, in spite of the weapons they carried, these merchants were not dressed for battle.

"Hey!" I yelled, trying to get her attention over the roaring of the crowd. "Hey, Anna!"

She flicked her eyes to us, her face in a grimace, then did a double-take. Upon seeing us, a grin grew on her face. We slowed down, stopping at her side as she waved more and more tourists further down the street. "Well what a coincidence," she said. "Are you one of those groups with trouble on your heels or do you lot just happen to have a habit of stumbling into it?"

Krystal and I looked at each other, a silent question passing between us. _Does she know us?_ "A little bit of both," I said, narrowing my eyes at her. "Do we know you?"

"What?" She gasped, hand clapping to her cheek in a mock gesture. "You don't remember me?" Her cheeky grin persisted. "I'm shocked! And I thought you were a gentleman after helping me out with those pesky bandits."

"Wait, what?" There was no way that this was the same Anna. There was no way that, by sheer coincidence, this one Anna in an alleyway in an Outrealm was the same Anna we helped back in Ferox a few weeks ago. The odds of that were as slim as winning the lottery, if not lower. "You can't be serious." Perhaps she'd heard it from somewhere else? It was still unrealistic, but not as farfetched as—there was no way.

"Or am I in the wrong here?" the merchant asked, suddenly thoughtful. She put her finger to her chin and furrowed her brow. "I could be remembering wrong, but I swear you look familiar."

"Look, we don't really hi—have ta—have time for this, so—"

"Ah, there's that speech thingy!" she said, pointing at me. "I knew I recognized you! I don't easily forget a face, you know. Especially not one like _yours_." She turned and poked me on the nose, winking. _WHAT—_

I felt color rush to my face, but I shook my head. "Can you just tell me where the town center is?" _This is ridiculous_. Beside me, Krystal's face was as beet-red as mine. "We need to meet up with our friends."

"Oh, I can bring you there." Fuck. Could I convince her otherwise? "Hey Anna!," she shouted over the bustling herd, her mind made up, "cover for me while I escort these two to the Center!" An affirmative yell from somewhere across the street was her response, and she wiped a hand across her forehead.

That reminded me of how sweaty I was. This humidity was unbearable, and the running around didn't help. _Why can't we catch a break_?

"Follow me," Anna said, pushing past Krystal and I. "The Center isn't too far, and you won't be able to get into that flood of people easily. Trust me, it will be quicker to take the long route. Be alert, though," she said, spinning her sword into a reverse-grip. "We are bound to find some baddies in our way."

"Right."

Then the merchant took off down the street. I forgot how fast she was, and the lightwear of the yukata wasn't slowing her down any. Krystal and I did our best to keep up, only managing to keep with her because she stopped at every alleyway to check for Risen lying in wait. Gods damn this limp!

We caught up to Anna, who had her back to the wall of one of the wooden houses. She peered around the corner, her sword drawn up close to her side. She put a finger to her lips to silence us, and we mimicked her position along the wall. Further down the street she was looking down, there were hurried footsteps coming our way. I wanted to get a look past Anna to see what it was, but she blocked me with her arm.

"Risen," she said, knowing what I was thinking. "Five of them. These all look pretty tough, too." She took another peak around the corner. "Looks like a Levin Sword, a bow, two bagheads, and…" she trailed off, leaning further around the corner. I was about to ask what she meant by bagheads, though I had an idea, when she whipped her head back into cover. Whizzing through the air where her head had been a fraction of a second earlier was an arrow, which embedded itself in the house across the street.

"That was close," the merchant breathed, then turned to us. "Alright, this is the plan. You"—she pointed to Krystal—"will take care of the archer. His bow looks pretty expensive, maybe silver, so be careful. I can take care of the bagheads, hopefully without much trouble. You—Emile, right? It's on you to take care of the guys with the swords."

"Both Levin swords?" I asked. It would be tough, but if they tried to keep me at a distance I could rush them and dodge the lightning. At least, I would try. Worst came to worse, I was confident that I could scrape by with a few burns. It was unlikely that they would rush me, considering how the awkward shape of Levin swords made stabbing and slashing difficult. That brought another question to mind: could staves heal burns? I had no recollection of my time healing after fighting with Dawn, and I hadn't sustained much in the way of burns then.

"One Levin sword," Anna corrected, bringing my plans to a halt. "The other has a Superior Edge." Oof. That complicated things. I frowned, and the merchant noticed. "Yeah, so I won't be much help there. Maybe you"—she nodded to Krystal again—"I'll have to learn your name later, but perhaps you can help him out after taking down the archer?"

The dark mage nodded. I saw it from my peripheral vision. I was too busy staring at my feet trying to think of a way to kill two high level swordsmen. _I have weapon advantage on both, maybe double on the superior edge, though I don't really remember the mechanics on that._ I muttered a curse under my breath, chewing on the first knuckle of my index finger. _What was superior edge, B rank? Levin is C, for sure, but that isn't the problem. Or is it? I probably don't have much in the way of resistance. And this damn gimp leg is slowing me down._

I sighed. Odds were not in my favor. _But_ , I thought rolling my shoulders. Anna tensed next to me and muttered, "They're close. Two rows, Superior Edge and bagheads front, Levin sword and archer in back. Superior is closest to us. Get ready." _This won't be the first time I've defied the odds_.

As soon as the first Risen was in view, I rounded the corner and stabbed high, aiming for the throat. The Superior Edge risen was quick, however, and swiped his sword to the side, the jagged, teeth-like edge of the blade catching my spear and hooking it to the side.

Two revenants wearing loincloths, shackles, and bags covering their heads flanked him, certain to be the "bagheads" that Anna was talking about. They raised their claws and came at me from both sides. I tried to wrench my weapon away from the Risen's hold, but the damned design of the blade made it pretty fucking difficult!

"I gotcha!" Anna said, spinning around the corner and cutting deep into one of their bodies, liquid splashing sludge from the contact. It screeched in response, its head twitching and jerking in spasms as it sunk back into a puddle and slid away. The other revenant was still sliding toward me like a hateful wave of decay, its glowing eyes piercing through the bag covering its head.

I wasn't getting my spear free in time. It was caught between the sword's teeth, and this Risen was pushing down hard to keep me from moving it. _Should have planned for something like this_.

"Krystal cover me!" I yelled, planting my feet and yanking the Superior Edge Risen toward me and spinning him so his back was to the incoming revenant. He was close enough to hug me, his foul breath seeping through the bared teeth of his Death Mask. A flash of purple came in the corner of my eye, and I felt the clumsy revenant collide with the Risen I was holding.

The impact dislodged my spear and I shoved them away. The revenant sunk into the ground, Superior Edge guy tripping over its crouched body and falling on his back. I crouched to leap over the revenant and impale the superior edge risen with a jumping attack, but when I pushed off, my damned gimp leg screwed me over yet again.

My leg gave out, buckled, and forced me to a knee. I propped myself up with my lance and pushed myself to my feet, only to be tackled to the side by Anna. Anger and confusion flashed through me— _why the hell did she tackle me? It was hard enough to get up already!_ These thoughts were cut off in an instant, however, as a bolt of lightning struck where I'd been kneeling.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked, rolling off of me and yanking to my feet with her. My leg almost buckled again, but I caught myself.

"My leg gave out," I admitted, not putting much thought into the answer. I tensed as the archer—he looked more armoured than a normal archer, though, with a cone-like helmet and a round shield on his forearm—nocked and launched an arrow our way. I grabbed Anna and pulled myself in front of her, about to put my back to the archer when a pillar of flux cut the projectile off early.

I looked over to Krystal, ready to thank her for the save, but her eyes were wild when I met them. "Behind you!" she cried.

I didn't bother turning, instead choosing to swing my spear in a wide arc and spin with it to clear out whatever threat may have been closing in. Using just one arm for this was difficult, but my other was currently hooked under Anna's. Turning my body with it put more force behind the slash, however, and I cut through the revenant that Anna had wounded.

It let out a pained shriek, the foul purple gas spraying from its stitched bag-mouth in a massive cloud before it collapsed in on itself. The cloud obscured my vision, and I was unable to see the arrow coming at me in time to dodge. It landed deep into my shoulder, shocked the air out of me, and pushed me back at Anna. My shoulder slammed into something—probably her chin or mouth—and I stumbled.

She hit the ground behind. I made conscious effort to stay on my feet and put the pressure on my good leg.

"To your left!"

I pulled my spear up and blocked the incoming attack. I hissed in pain, Superior Edge guy hooking his sword's teeth on my spear again and yanking down. My shoulder burned fiercely from the effort it took to keep my weapon raised. He pulled again, hard, then once more. I didn't budge. Held like this, the two of us were at an impasse, but we weren't alone.

The uninjured revenant came from the side again. Anna spun to her feet and caught it in the side, her sword cutting clean through. It hissed at her and leaned back. It seemed about to retreat before rearing up and bringing both of its decaying claws down in a bear-like attack. The merchant blocked it, holding her blade horizontally, then spun around its side and slashed at its back.

It reacted in an instant, no time between its movements as it twisted its undead body at an unnatural angle to knock her sword to the side. Smoke was spewing from the wound in its side in oppose to blood.

The _thwing_ of a bow firing pulled my attention from Anna's battle. I braced for another arrow to hit me—my side facing the archer, he was going to hit me somewhere on the right. A quick prayer that it land somewhere relatively harmless, but another wall of Flux was my saving grace. Krystal saved me again, but a quick glance back at her let me know that she was waning. This constant defending was taxing her, and the thick, humid air wasn't helping. I could feel my own strength sapping faster than usual, as well. I could only imagine how Anna was doing, but her ragged breathing gave me a pretty good hint.

I wanted to take a moment to survey our remaining enemies, but this Superior Edge was blocking most of my vision and I could not for the life of me recall how many Anna had said were in this group, even though it was mere moments ago. All I knew was that we killed one.

That was all I had time to know. I didn't see it coming. I didn't hear a crackling, the sound of magic circles, or even Krystal shout for me to watch out. But I felt it. Oh, I felt it. I felt the air grow thin for the briefest of moments. I felt the searing pain of the Levin sword's magic tracing electrifying me, trailing through my veins and frying my nerves.

It was brief. I could have told you that. I knew as much at the time, but it felt like an eternity. Time seemed to slow down, and during that time I could trace with my finger the path I felt the lightning take through my body. It was very distinct, and very unforgettable. That memory would stick with me till the day I died, and so would the fear.

I thought I was sizzling at first. Something was burnt, for sure. Everything tingled. Was I burnt? What happened? No, wait, I knew what happened. The Risen with the Levin Sword landed a direct hit on me. I hadn't even tried to dodge it, not that I'd known.

My ears were ringing and my vision was fuzzy. Still, I could hear the clashing of metal and see the bright red shape of Anna batting away a sword in front of me. She was nimble, knocking away attacks from what I assumed was the revenant and the Superior Edge guy with fluid, swift strikes.

I blinked a few times, trying to get rid of the bleariness, and realized I was on the ground. I patted my hands on the stone street to find my bearings and pushed myself to my feet. It was shaky—my extremities were still numb at the ends, so finding footing was difficult—and I swayed when I managed to get on my feet. Like when I woke up, I flexed my fingers a few times to get the blood flowing more.

Over where I remembered the Levin sword risen and the archer to be, I saw Flux charges being cast in rapid succession, keeping both of them on their feet so they didn't get a chance to fire off any ranged attacks of their own. Every time a charge was cast, I felt a chill from behind me.

Edges were defined clearly in my eyes when I heard a sound like scraping metal, then something cracked and snapped. Anna cried out, and I flicked my eyes toward her to see her sword broken in two where it'd been caught by the superior edge's teeth. The broken part of her blade clattered to the ground.

 _Fuck._ I looked along the ground for my spear, only to find it similarly broken a few feet in front of me.

She was undeterred, spinning in a circle to stab the jagged, broken blade into the Risen's throat. The revenant she'd been fighting at the same time, however, saw its opportunity in its ally's death. It reared back, and I tensed up before a chill ran up my back, this time longer than the others.

" _Flux_!" Krystal shouted, her voice strained and panicked. Her spell sprouted from near Anna's feet and lanced through the revenant in an 'x'. Its pained shriek hurt my ears, sitting around the same pitch as the ringing already plaguing me.

"Thanks," the merchant said, smiling weakly and ripping her blade free from the Superior Edge guy's throat. It ended him, and he evaporated. Anna raised the back of her hand to her forehead, about to wipe the sweat away when she tensed and twisted to the side. An arrow whizzed by, grazing her chest and thudding into a wall.

Then the air grew thin. I recognized it this time. Somewhere above me, magic circles were spinning, ready to send another bolt of lightning through my veins. I dove to the side as fast as I could, using my hands to spring into a roll.

I landed clumsily, but avoided the Levin sword's spell. A preferable alternative. Anna's hand under my arm pulled me to my feet. I winced, but felt a small relief from that fact. The numbness was fading, albeit to a slight degree at most. "You good to stand on your own?" the merchant asked, and I nodded after a moment of consideration.

We both kept our eyes locked on the two remaining Risen. The one using a Levin sword—now that I was able to get a good look at him, he seemed to be a trickster with his pointed red hat—and the archer. Neither was moving, but both were ready. The trickster's Levin sword was held in both hands with a rigid grip, and the archer had an arrow nocked and ready.

"You have a plan?" I asked, glancing between the merchant and Krystal. I don't hear Anna's response, however. I had to do a double-take when I saw Krystal. She looked horrible.

The dark mage was uninjured, as far as I could tell, but her mouth was agape as ragged, heavy breaths escaped her. She was slouched, but still standing with her tome dangling in her loose, tired grip. The sky cast a sheen over her sweat-drenched face. Her stormy-grey eyes were staring dead ahead, steady and determined as she watched the Risen.

"Krystal?" I called. "You alright?"

Anna followed where I was looking. Krystal's gaze didn't waver at me calling her name, but she straightened her posture and flipped her tome open. Magic circles, defined and shining, spun around her at an angry pace. "Stay back," she muttered. Suddenly, she looked very, _very_ angry.

The archer, seeing what she was doing, drew back his arrow.

"That's enough," she growled, her voice low and pregnant with more rage than I thought her to be capable of. "Take this!"

I swore by the gods that the earth _trembled_. The magic circles around Krystal flashed in warning, then spun away as a replica of them entrapped both the trickster and the archer. With a rumble, the stone street splintered and pillars of darkness shot up. These pillars didn't knock the risen away or impale them like normal. No, they absolutely decimated the zombies. Upon impact, they exploded in clouds of their purple smoke. If they had been real people, I was confident that blood would have come down like rain and we would have been finding parts of them stuck to our clothes for weeks.

"Holy fuck," I muttered, dumbstruck. The enormous Flux disintegrated after a moment's time, but the damage it did to the street remained. _A testament to Krystal's hidden strength_ , I mused, still in shock. I made a personal reminder, then, to not get on her bad side. "Holy _fuck_."

"You can say that again," Anna said.

"Holy fu—"

I was cut off at the sound of something hitting the ground. Anna and I looked to see Krystal on her knees, book closed and on the ground a few feet away from her. She looked dangerously close to going completely limp. We both ran over to her, Anna getting there first. We both knelt down beside the dark mage. "Hey there, girl," the merchant said, putting on a smile and holding Krystal by the shoulders. "You don't look too good."

I studied her, and discovered that I was right. No blood spilled, no injuries to be seen. Exhaustion, then? We helped her up. She was still conscious, her eyes half-lidded, but looked unable to stand on her own. "Can you carry her?" Anna asked, picking up the Flux tome. She tucked in under one arm, still hanging onto her broken sword. It was better than nothing, I figured.

"If you take this arrow out of my shoulder, yeah." I would do it myself, but… I had no experience with this sort of thing. I assumed Anna did, or at least knew the way to go about it because Tricksters had access to healing staves. She didn't have one on her, though. Perhaps I was assuming too much? Either way, the merchant put one hand on my shoulder, broke off part of the arrow, told me to chomp down on it, then pulled the arrow from my shoulder. The process was horrid, but thankfully I was still a tad numb from the lightning.

"Can you grab the w-working end of my spear over there?" I jerked my chin over to my snapped weapon while picking Krystal up. She was light, like a sack of feathers. Even my drained body could carry her with ease. Anna picked up the bladed end of my spear and I hoisted Krystal onto my back, her arms dangling loosely around my neck and my hands holding under her legs. I could carry her faster by piggybacking than running with her bridal-style in my arms.

Anna waved for me to follow, taking a moderate pace down the street. I took one last look at the ruined stones and upturned dirt. "Jesus Christ." I still had a hard time believing that this lightweight, meek girl I was carrying managed that in a single attack. _She must have been PISSED_.

"Come on," the merchant called, waiting at another intersection of streets. Her voice was low, but it was the only distinct sound nearby. "I would rather get going before another group of Risen catches up. I doubt we could survive another encounter like that."

"Right." I was inclined to agree. A lot had gone wrong in that fight. A lot more than successive battles could allow. Anna and I had our weapons broken, and our magic powerhouse was down for the count. Not to mention my wounded shoulder and the lightning bolt that still had my hands feeling fat and clumsy. I was tempted to flex my fingers again to see if it would help, but considering my hands were currently holding Krystal up by her thighs, it… would look kind of weird.

"So," Anna said, peaking around a corner before continuing. "When did you get that limp? You were walking fine the first time we met."

"W-well, a lot has happened since then," I said with a dry laugh.

"I'll say," she chuckled. "You look different. And have a limp."

I rolled my eyes. It was peaceful conversation. It was more than enough to pull a smile from me. "Yeah, Plegia seems to do that to you. Bre-breh—" I took a breath. She chuckled. "Between the heat, the cold, almost dying, and the hits we've taken to morale recently… I would be surprised if I was the same."

"I assume by hits to your morale, you mean what happened with the Exalt," she said, her smile fading.

"You know?" How? That couldn't have been too long ago, a few days at most. Had news really spread that fast? She was the Exalt, though. Of course news of her death would spread. Like wildfire after a drought in a gas-drenched forest.

"Us traveling merchants hear things long before most others," she said. Strands of red hair fell in her face, worked loose of her ponytail during the fight. She brushed them away, only for them to fall back in place. "Word of mouth between one another gets news around, too"

"I see. But yeah, that was what I meant. Hit us pretty hard" I stopped there, a note of finality in my voice. I didn't want to continue talking about it. I didn't need to be reminded anymore. Anna seemed to get the hint and dropped the subject. We walked in silence, then. Our boots padded on the stones, taking the place of our voices.

After a time, though, she broke through the quiet. "You didn't say how you got your limp." I had to laugh, then sucked air through my teeth immediately. It hurt to laugh. The numbness was absent from most of my body at this point, leaving room for the pain that followed. It felt like moving with sore muscles, but all over the front of my torso.

I stopped walking for a moment to catch my breath, the pain having taken me by surprise. She stopped a few feet ahead of me. "Are you alright?" she asked, and I nodded after a series of long, deep breaths.

"Yeah," I said, but my voice betrayed my false confidence. I cleared my throat and tried again. "Yeah, I'm fine." I wasn't sure. I'd never been hit by lightning before, let alone magically charged lightning. I knew nothing about what effects that could have on my body, immediate or otherwise. I would ask Lissa or Maribelle about it later, if I had the time.

Anna looked reluctant to believe me, but I started walking and answering her earlier question. "Anyway, my limp. It's a pain in the ass, let me tell you. A week or two ago, our camp was ambushed by Risen in Plegia during the middle of the night. These Risen were weird. They had curved swords unlike any you'd see in Ylisse or Ferox or even Plegia from what we've seen, and they were smart. Like, really smart. They separated us and tried to pick us off with archers from a hill. Long story short, I caught a few too many arrows in the leg and they caused nerve damage because I didn't take them out before charging back into the fight."

"Man," the merchant said, shaking her head. Her smile was back. "You have the _worst_ luck with arrows."

"Tell me about it," I said, chuckling. It was strange that I always ended up with an arrow or two in me during or after each battle. I would have to keep a better eye out for archers and keep out of their way from now on. It _was_ beginning to get on my nerves. Literally and figuratively. At least it was more than just another arrow this time, though. For better or worse, that is. "I think—"

"Wati!" she said, silencing me with her finger. Her voice was a harsh whisper. "Do you hear that?"

I heard nothing at first, but after a moment, I heard what sounded like something rolling along uneven, rocky ground. I raised an eyebrow, uncertain of what it was. "Is that… a wheel?"

"I think it's a wagon," she whispered, tilting her ear to the sky. "Or…" Her brow furrowed and she bit at her lip.

"What?"

She shook her head. She took slow, creeping steps toward the source of the noise. I followed, staying as quiet as I was able in my condition. A few times, she whipped her head back, ready to send some stinging remark my way about how loud I was being, but then bit it back and continued on her way.

"I think it's a wagon," she repeated, stopping at another corner. Krystal was starting to stir, her head over my shoulder. I could feel her soft breathing on my cheek, and her arms shifted. Was she asleep, or just out of it? Both states were so similar, it made little difference. _How coherent is she?_ I wondered, then pulled my attention to Anna as she peaked around the house.

She was tense, leaning further and further around the corner, until I saw all of the tension leave her at once with a hefty sigh. Her shoulders slumped, and she stepped around the house. Her hands cupped by her mouth, calling, "Hey, Sister!"

I paused, then followed her to see down the street. Coming toward us at a snail's pace was a wooden, horse-drawn wagon with a red tarp cover. Pulling it with all her might was another Anna, but this one was wearing her normal Trickster attire. She was making the worst progress, but had no horses to pull her wagon for her. She looked up when the Anna by my side—Anna 1—called for her again. "Is that you, sister?" was her reply.

Anna 1 and I made our way toward her, and were about to answer when something down a side-street perpendicular to this one shrieked in rage. Then something roughly human sized came hurtling down the side-street and directly into Anna 2's wagon with a shout of fear. Whoever it was destroyed the wagon, breaking through one of its sides and collapsing the roof and wheel on said side, rending the wagon useless. Anna 2 screamed in shock, and Anna 1 took off to help her. I did my best to keep up.

"The hell?" Anna 2 cried, pulling the person free of her wagon's rubble. She and Anna 1 dug whoever it was out and helped them to their feet. I was by their side at this point, and I recognized the head of curling black hair.

"Zach?" I called, and he looked up. He looked like shit, covered in cuts, bruises, and his left arm was limp. I got closer, and he squinted. His eyes drifted to my shoulder, Krystal's head still propped against it. As soon as he saw her, his eyes went wide and he raised his right hand, pointing his Killing Edge right at me. "Whoa, whoa!" I said, stopping several feet away. "It's just me, Emile! I got Krystal, here."

He said nothing, just blinked a few times and shook his head. His eyes lingered on Krystal for a moment longer, squinting. He stared at her like she was alien, some sort of monster. Then his posture went rigid, and he whirled to face down the side-street he'd come from. "Watch out!"

Both Annas and I followed his gaze to see something gold coming at us, fast and frenzied. The closer it got, the more I recognized it as a revenant or…what were the gold ones called? Entombed? It was faster than the revenants, sprinting at us instead of sliding along the ground like a slug. Its glowing red eyes made red lines as its head moved while it ran. I stepped behind Anna 1 and Zach, the two of them being the only armed people here.

"Fuckin' thing caught me off guard," the myrmidon muttered, spinning his Killing Edge in his hand before growling. "Goddammit." He groaned, then ran out to meet its charge. Anna 1 reached for his arm to stop him, but wasn't fast enough.

He ran as fast as I'd seen him in a while, then slid along the slick ground and drew his blade back. "You're out of luck!" he shouted mid slid, transitioning the movement into a spinning jump. He landed directly on top of the Entombed, his Killing Edge going through the center of its chest. Both of them went to the ground, then Zach finished it off by tearing his sword up from and out from where he'd stabbed it in. The Entombed screamed and collapsed, oozing purple smoke in a cloud.

The myrmidon began to make his way toward us, trying and struggling to put his blade in its scabbard with only one working arm. I noticed that his eyes were on Krystal again, for a moment, before he shook his head and looked away. "You don't happen to have any staves, do you?" he asked. "I don't think I'm doing so hot."

"Think you can make it to the Center of town?" Anna 1 asked. "We're almost there, and it's where the rest of your allies should be." The myrmidon appeared a bit tentative, his working arm clutching the forearm of his broken one. His eyes shifted between the two Annas, Krystal, and I.

"It's where Robin said to go," I supplemented, hoping to ease him. I thought he was in shock or something. He didn't look well off. I got the intended result, though. At the mention of our tactician's name, he perked up.

"You talked to her?" he asked, and I nodded, hoisting Krystal up as she'd begun to slip. His eyes flicked to her again, then locked with mine. There was definitely something up with him. He had a wild look in his eyes, one that didn't belong there. "Is she alright?"

"Robin?" I asked, unsure if he meant the tactician or Krystal. "Yeah, she seemed perfectly fine. She was riding on Nowi, so I assume she made it to the center of town easily." I wished we'd had the same opportunity. Maybe I should have asked when I had the chance.

 **Zach POV:**

"Good," I said, relief washing over me. _She's okay_. "That's… That's good." I really, _really_ needed to talk to her. I needed to just… get away from these guys. I had to—I took a deep breath and cleared my throat. _It's the heat_. "We should get going, then. I don't want to wait around for more Risen."

"Sounds good," Emile said. "We all need a bit of medical attention." He looked me over once or twice, then added, "Perhaps you most of all."

I wanted to refute that. I was fine. I _felt_ fine, at least. I had more energy than ever, my heart was beating out of my chest, and I was alert. "Yeah." But I wasn't stupid. I didn't feel an ounce of pain anywhere, but I knew from looking at my arm that it was broken or dislocated or something. I was unable to move it, and couldn't feel a thing with it. I still said, "I can fight if we need to, though." My hand rested on the hilt of my Killing Edge. Fighting was good. It took my mind off of things.

"Are you sure?" one of the Annas asked, hands on her hips. "Your left arm—"

"Isn't my good arm," I said, cutting her off. I wanted to go as fast as I could. I would leave them behind if I was able—the more distance the better—but I did not know the way to the town center. Following them was necessary, but we had to hurry. "Now please, can we get going?"

All four of them stared at me, but I urged them forward. Yukata-Anna shared a look with Emile, who shrugged, and walked past me to lead the way. She kept her eyes on me, suspicious, but I didn't care. Not when Krystal—it was Krystal, right? That was her, on Emile's back? Yes, yes, it had to be. No way in hell that it was…

Why the hell did it have to be so dark out?

"Are you alright?" Emile asked.

"What?" He'd surprised me. I was too busy staring at my feet to notice him walk up beside me. His brows were furrowed, concerned. A shock of white hair spilled over his shoulder, blending with perfectly his platinum locks—white hair? My eyes shot to Krystal, still unconscious. White hair? No, no, hers was red. Just a trick of the light. Reflecting the moonlight or… something.

"I asked if you were alright," he repeated, his words slower and more deliberate. "You look…" he trailed off, looking away to search for the right words. He settled for, "Off."

"Yeah, well tonight's been a little chaotic," I said. "Guess I'm a bit on edge." That was an understatement. I glanced back at Krystal. Still red, still out of it. Good.

"W-why do you keep doing that?" I looked back at him, raising an eyebrow. _Doing what_? "You keep l-l-loooking back at Krystal like she's going to spring out and attack you or something. W-what is that about?"

 _Because for fraction of a split second, her hair was white. I need to make sure that it doesn't happen again, that it was a reflection, that it is just a trick of the light, that I'm not losing my fucking mind._ "Because I keep thinking she's looking at me," I lied, then turned away. It took conscious effort to keep from looking back at her again, but I couldn't help myself when Emile eventually walked ahead of me to talk to Anna. Still red, still… still Krystal. "Fuck."

It was easier to watch Krystal for signs of…whatever I was looking for now that she was in front of me. I was less wary, as a result, but that was the only good change over time as we walked. My adrenaline began to fade and moving became a chore. Each step took tremendous effort, and aching pain flooded my muscles. What strength I had left was beginning to fade, and I was falling behind the yukata-Anna and Emile.

My vision had begun to blur when someone said, "Hear that?" No. "Horses!" Good. It was faster than walking, and I could sit down for the first time in what felt like hours. Though maybe that wasn't the best idea. I had the feeling that if I sat down now, I would be too weak to get back on my feet. I sighed, running a hand over my sweaty face. My hair was wet again, falling from my ponytail and into my face.

"Hey." A voice at my side scared me enough to make me jump. I grimaced at the sudden movement, but even more at my surprise companion. Walking beside me was the other Anna—the one whose cart I crashed into after being thrown by that Entombed.

"I forgot you were here," I admitted, scowling.

She countered my negative expression with a grin and ignored my comment. "I have to ask, do you have the hots for that girl or something?" she asked, nodding toward… Krystal.

If there was water in my mouth, I would have spit it out. That question was so absurd and came straight out of the blue that I was shocked straight out of the doldrums. "What?" I cried, my voice rising an octave higher than acceptable. Emile and yukata-Anna both looked back, the latter bearing a curious smirk. Gods, was that smile just standard in this family? I cleared my throat and gathered myself. "No, no, I—"

"Well you keep staring at her like that and people will think otherwise," the merchant chirped.

"People can think what they want," I hissed, shooting a glare her way. "I could care less."

"You seem to care quite a bit," she retorted. I could hear the cheeky smile on her voice. It did come standard for them. "Why is that, I wonder?"

"And you seem to care quite a bit about this, too!" I growled, forcing a mock smile. My eyes were on her in a hardened glare, still. I mimicked her tone, saying, " _Why is that, I wonder?_ " before storming ahead of her and ignoring the burning in my legs. Whatever. She pissed me off.

Further up the street, two horses and their riders galloped into view. One wore red armor and the other green, and I was relieved at their sight. "Sully!" I yelled before anyone else, waving my hand in the air. The red armored cavalier raised her lance in the air, and I grinned. Her timing was splendid.

"Huh?" came Krystal's soft voice as she stirred, picking her head up from Emile's shoulder and looking around. "Where…?" She seemed a bit dazed, and in this moment there was no way I could mistake her for anyone else. It reminded me of that time in Ferox when I'd let her borrow my room. _Simpler times, those._

I jogged to catch up to them and yukata-Anna, leaving the other one behind me. "Almost to the others," Emile said, hopeful and more than a little relieved.

"Those are your friends, then?" yukata-Anna asked. "I can't say I remember them. But then, I don't remember you, either," she added, nudging me. _Remember me?_ Why would she? As far as I could remember, I had yet to meet an Anna outside of this Outrealm or the town before the Gate.

"Same here," I said.

"Can…can you let me down?" Krystal murmured, and patted Emile's shoulder. His face flushed a slight, nigh unnoticeable shade of pink, like he just remembered he'd been giving her a piggyback ride. "I can walk on my own," the dark mage continued, "and you smell burnt."

He bent low to the ground and she hopped off his back, Krystal's face more red than his by far as the cavaliers drew closer and closer. "I smell it, too," said Anna, giggling. "Must have been the lightning."

"The what?" I blurted without meaning to. He got hit by lightning? Now that I got a better look at him, he did look a bit frazzled and the hairs on his arms were standing on end. "When was this?"

"A risen hit me with a Levin sword," he said simply, shrugging. "It was just before we found you, so I'm surprised you didn't notice sooner." As was I, but the opportunity to question it was cut short as Sully and Stahl slowed to a stop.

"Thank the Gods we found you," Stahl sighed, slumping against his horse. "I was afraid we'd be looking for hours."

"Robin sent us to find you guys," Sully explained, sitting straight up. Whatever fatigue plagued Stahl was not present in her. "Everyone else is already gathered in the Center, and you three were the only ones missing. But I see you found each other and some guides, to boot."

"Yeah," yukata-Anna said, "we were heading that way. Good to know we were right about where you were all at, though."

Sully smirked. "You run into any trouble on the way?"

"Some pretty tough Risen, but we got through it," Emile answered, then paused. He looked over us all and frowned. "Not without our fair share of injuries, though."

"That much is obvious," Stahl said, sliding off his horse. Sully did the same. They looked at each other, a silent question and an answer no louder, then the viridian knight nodded to the Annas. "Seeing as you two know the way, we can ride ahead with two others if you'll guide the third?"

"That was the plan anyway," other Anna said, "wasn't it, sister?" Yukata-Anna nodded, and Stahl looked to the three of us.

"You guys can go ahead," Emile said immediately, clapping a hand to Krystal's shoulder and looking me in the eye. Something was going through his head then. I knew not what it was, but his eyes lit up while he said it. "I'll be fine back here."

I held his gaze a moment longer, trying to decipher what small portion of his thoughts I could glimpse from his expression. In the end, I found nothing. "I have no objections to that," I said, walking up to Sully and her horse. "I won't be bleeding out this time," I joked, and she chuckled, helping me onto her horse.

As she pulled herself up, I watched Stahl help Krystal up. She looked small, more so atop the horse and next to Stahl. I suddenly remembered what Anna said, about me staring, and also my own wounds that hurt worse by the second. I was going to get the chance to clear up a lot of shit when we got the Center. Seeing Krystal looking as fragile as she did—she looked like a kid, freshly woken and still out of it—made me realize that I did not want her to be there when it happened. Not in the way that I knew it would— _wanted it to_ —happen.

"Hey, Krystal," I called, startling myself at how brusque I sounded. My own voice surprised me sometimes, and that was the wrong tone to use with her. Her eyes moved slowly to meet mine, wide. I cleared my throat, embarrassed. "I… can we talk when we get to the others? Just the two of us? It's, well, it's pretty important."

I thought that made her more nervous than my tone, which I tried to make gentle as possible. Out of all of them, she was the one I found it the hardest to see conspiring. I had to talk to her civilly, because I could not believe that she had that kind of thing in her. I did not want her to unjustly get caught up in whatever came after, either.

She held my gaze for a time. I stared into her grey eyes, wide as saucers until she spoke. She blinked, then, levelling her eyes determinately. "Of course," she answered. _Good._

With that, Stahl swung up onto his horse and Sully urged hers forward. I knew I was heading to the infirmary. As fucked up as I was, there was nowhere else would let me go. Sully said as much on the way. And that, as far as I was concerned, was perfect. It was exactly where I needed and wanted to be. If Emile was smart and he really did get hit by a Levin sword, then he would be there eventually, as well.

Things were finally lining up.

 **Ω:**

"Can you walk me there, Krystal?" I asked.

As soon as we'd met up with the others—it was quite the ordeal to get past the crowd of citizens that the Annas had rounded up in the Center—Sully ordered that I head straight to the infirmary. Yeah, she'd ordered me, insisting that she would inform Robin where I was and the Emile was coming soon after. I begrudgingly agreed, but only for two reasons.

1: If Sully wanted to, she could force me to the infirmary without trouble, either by carrying me or knocking me out and then carrying me or just strapping me to her horse and sending _it_ to the infirmary. It was a losing battle from my standpoint.

2: It gave me the chance to talk to Krystal.

So, in the same tone I used to ask her if she was from this world so long ago, I asked her to accompany me on my way. It was the same because, both then and now, I knew the answer before she even spoke.

"Sure."

Sully was fine with it, pointing in the direction of the infirmary and riding away toward the other side of our portion of the Center. This being the big business hub of the town, most of the buildings around it were centered around business, as well. Sully said that we were given four or five of these buildings to house ourselves in during our stay here, free for now and reduced price after the Risen were cleaned up. The healers were stationed was one of these buildings, placed on the opposite end of our area as the building containing the war rooms. A tactical decision, I was told, with our sleeping quarters taking up the buildings in between.

"Thanks. So," I begin, unsure of where to start. As I search for the best way to say what I want to say, I looked around to see if there was anyone who would listen in. Yeah I was in public, but I still kind of wanted to keep this private to some degree. Krystal looked up at me expectantly, her hands behind her back. It was obvious that her walking with me was an excuse to talk, and also that I was a bit at a loss for words. But really, how was I supposed to talk about this? Just dive right in to the topic at hand? That seemed rushed and gave little justice to the gravity of it, but I also had no idea how to lead into it.

In the end, I just stopped walking and ran a hand down my face with a sigh. No toe in the water, here. "Alright," I said, and started forward again. Best to be blunt and get this over with. The infirmary was bound to be close, so my time was running out to get this done. I cleared my throat, and said, "Robin and I got into a fight the night before we went to save Emmeryn. It was after a meeting with Chrom, and he stormed out, so it was just us in there. She started talking about him being selfish and not taking others—" I cut myself off and shook my head. "Never mind, that isn't important.

"But Robin was really upset. I offered to help her if she needed it, right? Then something went off it her head, like a light or something, and she went quiet for a while. I don't know how long, maybe a few minutes, but then she started talking about a strange feeling she'd had about us."

"Us?" she asked, cutting in.

"All of us from Earth," I muttered, and she tensed. The look in her eyes was anything but composed, but I didn't ask why. Didn't have the time, didn't want my temper to cool. "She'd felt it for a while, she said, and sent Gaius out to do some snooping." It occurred to me now that I would have to talk to the thief, too. Or did I? It wasn't…really his fault. "Gaius told her that he'd overheard you guys talking one night. You snuck out of camp and talked, apparently, about having me get close to Robin and convince her to take certain actions."

I did my best not to sound accusatory, but the words spoke for themselves and Krystal knew it. She stopped walking, shoulders slack and head hung low. "You think…" she murmured, trailing off. I realized with a start that I was in the same position Robin was in that night. I had the 'evidence' and I was putting it on Krystal without any solid proof. This realization hit me like a rock, thudding against my chest and knocking the air out of my chest.

"I don't want to believe it," I said. I really don't, believe me, but that's what Gaius heard—"

I froze. That was exactly what Robin had said, almost to the word. I said it without thinking. The words came by themselves, doubt dredging it up. _Is this… is this what she felt like when confronting me?_ Hurt, doubtful, hopeful, and a little bit scared all at the same time? _Jesus_.

What could I say to make this better? What had Robin said? Had she? "Krystal, just… you are the one person I least believe to betray me like that. I just want you to tell me that I'm right. That you had no part in whatever scheme they were plotting up."

She didn't look up. Her eyes were staring holes into the dirt and her hands were clenched into fists at her sides. With a shuddery breath—fuck, tell me she wasn't crying—she said in a voice as soft as a whisper, "Okay."

I felt myself relax, my shoulders loosening as whatever outburst I was expecting never came to pass. _Good_ , I thought. _She is already doing leagues better than I had_. "Okay?"

"Okay," she repeated, then met my eyes. She had a strong, angry storm brewing in the pools of her eyes. "I had nothing to do with any plot to make you use Robin. I would never do any such thing, Zach."

"Promise?" I held out my hand.

"Promise." She reached out and shook my hand, her grip no firmer than I'd expected, even with her as determined as this. "I owe you my life, and I would never break that debt. Them, however," she said, looking away. "I don't know. Ask them yourself." With that, she let go of my hand and walked back the way we came.

I wished it was that easy to placate my doubts. She promised, but what did that even mean? I wanted to believe that she was telling the truth, but it could have just as easily been a lie. _I'm sorry_ , _Robin_ , I thought. _I understand now_. If you want to believe someone, that makes it all the harder to do just that. This changed things.

"Hello?" I hear a voice behind me, and I turn to see Calliope peeking her head out the door. "Oh, Zach, right?"

"Yep."

"Sorry, I'm bad at names, and—oh!" She swung the door completely open and ran out to me, eyes on my bad arm. "You're injured!"

"Yeah, Sully thinks it's broken," I said, smiling politely. "She told me to come here and get fixed up, _ordered_ it even."

Calliope laughed, touching her finger gently along the length of my arm. At this point, whatever superpower was keeping me angry and energized was gone. My arm was aching like a son of a bitch and my fingertips were tingling, but even though she told me to tell her when it hurt even more, it didn't. At least, not for most of my arm. As soon as her hand touched above my bicep, I winced and resisted the urge to jerk my arm away.

Calliope hummed, frowning. "Sully is the red-haired cavalier, yes?" I nodded, and her frown deepened. "Then she is a bit intimidating. No, more like very intimidating." I grinned, and she smiled back before waving for me to follow her inside. "Which means that you will have to be the one to tell her she was wrong about your arm."

"Is that good or bad news?"

"That is up to you," she said, leading me through the front room. "Excuse the mess, we haven't had much time to clean up." It showed. The lamps hanging from the ceiling showed that the floor was covered in some sort of hard straw mats. It was clear that they'd seen some wear and the counters and shelves here were covered in a thick layer of dust. Garbage was pushed out of the way and into the corner, mostly junk and paper. _Abandoned shop_ , I guessed. At the back of the room, there was a closed door that Calliope promptly opened. It let in more warm lamplight, and she said, "I suppose it's more good than bad, though, if you aren't afraid of her. Can I ask what happened?"

"I was, uh," I avoided her gaze as she turned to face me, scratching the back of my head. "I was thrown through a merchant's cart."

"You were _what?"_ Two voices came from the same side of the room at the exact same time, one male and the other female, both recognizable. I looked to the right of the room to see Sumia standing over a wrapped-up Robert, who was sitting up in his cot and fully conscious. Both were staring at me with shocked expressions, the former's jaw hanging open and the latter's open in a preposterous grin. My temple throbbed once at the sight of Robert, but I wasn't angry anymore. No, Krystal cooled me down, defused me.

"Why is that so surprising?" a third, deeper voice said from the other side of the room. Under another lamp, Dylan was sitting on his cot with bandages still wrapped around most of his body. "I threw a dragon at you."

Calliope shushed them and sat me down on a cot of my own. It creaked when I sat down, and I could tell from just sitting that it would be unbearable to sleep in. I hoped I wouldn't be in here for the night. "Your arm is not broken," she said, and I sighed in relief. Good, then I would be out of here quickly. I no longer had any reason to stay. "I assume that you hit the cart pretty hard, however, because it dislocated your shoulder."

"Nothing serious, then."

"Lucky," I heard Robert jeer.

"No, nothing serious," Calliope said. "We just have to relocate it and set you up with a sort of cast to keep you from moving your arm so it heals properly."

"Alright, then, cool."

"Just let me grab what I need and I'll be right back." She spun on her heel and walked her way out of the room. Sumia, finishing up whatever needed to be done with Robert, came over my way. She stopped in front of my cot and frowned at me with her hands on her hips.

"What did you do to get yourself thrown into a cart?" she asked, scowling at me. I noticed a few smudges on her face, and the hair usually tied to the side of her face had come loose.

"Pissed off a zombie. What about you," I countered, gesturing to the current location. "What did you do to get stuck with infirmary duty?"

"Calliope offered to teach me healing," she said, and the smirk I'd been donning was replaced by a genuine grin. If she was learning healing, then… would she promote soon? Or was that even a thing here? I was sure that it was not as grandeur an occasion as the games made it look, but was it as sudden? More likely, it was just gradual change, like learning new skills or testing limits. Still, I could have sworn I'd heard someone talking about a Master Seal recently.

"Really?" I ask, and Sumia smiles back, her face lighting up. "That's great!"

"It is! Of course," she glanced away, "I've only learned the basics about medicine and the like, and it's _really_ hard to remember some of the proportions for the mixtures, but I think I can do this!" She looked very excited, and I was glad. She was finding a light in the midst of recent events, which I figured was something we all needed to do. Maybe I could convince Robin to—or, maybe not. Maybe I wouldn't do that just yet.

"I know you can, Sumia," I said, offering my most supportive smile and nod. "I can see you now, flying around with a spear in one hand and a staff in the other. You'll be great."

"I hope so," she said, nodding.

"Well," Calliope said, returning with various things tucked under her arm, " _I_ hope I can teach you well enough for you to get that far. I'm not so great at this myself." Sumia stepped out of the way as the cleric set her supplies down on the cot beside me. "Now this'll hurt a bit," she said, "but it probably hurt worse when you dislocated it, so…"

"Actually, I didn't feel a thing then."

Calliope paused, her hands inches from my arm. "Oh." She met my eyes, suddenly pensive, then shrugged. "You'll have to tough through it, then." Before I could respond, her hands clasped around my arm and she forced _up_ , my shoulder correcting itself with a pop. I bit back a loud, insensitive curse and took a deep breath. I remained silent until she started wrapping me up in the cast-thing.

"Ah, that hurt like a motherfucker," I breathed.

"But you survived," Calliope chirped, starting to hum as she finished up the cast. Her cheer lessened the pain, and I swallowed any complaints. Good on her, for remaining cheerful as well. It made me hopeful seeing at least a few people keeping up a good spirit in spite of things. "There." She stood up and admired her work. "Now you can't move your arm until I say so, alright?" I nodded, but that wasn't good enough. "Otherwise it won't heal properly and you'll be even more likely to have it dislocated again. Alright?"

"Yes," I said, rolling my eyes. "I will not move my arm, I get it."

"Good," she said, tilting her chin up so she was looking down at me. "If any of you need anything, I will be upstairs teaching Sumia." She walked out the door with the Pegasus knight, eager to learn, right on her heels. For a second, I found things in my favor once again.

"So," I said, to get their attention. "Is there anything either of you want to say to me? Perhaps you want to apologize?" I kept my tone was an easy neutral that showed next to no emotional inflection. Both Robert and Dylan looked at me in confusion, but said nothing. That was fine. Quicker I could get this and go talk with Robin. "Perhaps for a certain meeting you all had without my knowing in which I was mentioned as part of a plan to use Robin?"

I met each of their eyes for a brief second. I looked away from Dylan, but Robert was the one to look away from me when my eyes fell on him. "So you _do_ know about that, huh? Figured you would find out eventually."

"Yeah, considering I found it out from Robin who heard it from Gaius. We got into a fight about it, too."

"So that's why you've been keeping distance from her," Dylan murmured, staring at the wall ahead of him. "Suppose you're pretty pissed about it, yeah? Don't blame you. I would be, too."

"Can't say I'd be too happy if—" he started, but cut himself off. "If someone started shit between me and someone else. Though…" He turned to look at me again, leaning closer and squinting. "You don't look very angry right now."

"I'm not angry anymore," I admitted to them, which felt like a weight being lifted. "But yeah, I was pissed. More angry than I ever remember being. If I'm being completely honest, I came in here with the sole intention of getting into an argument with the two of you. Probably would have yelled something about you getting in between us and dragging me into your bullshit and that it was on you to fix this."

"I take it you threw that plan out?" Robert asked.

"Yep."

"Why the change of heart?" I heard him suck air through his teeth and groan as he twisted to better face me as he spoke. "It sounds like you were mad not too long ago."

"I talked to Krystal outside. She didn't say anything in particular that influence my decision, but she caught me long enough for me to think more clearly. And I realized some things about how I was going about this. Thank God, right?"

"Eh," Robert said, his voice rising an octave, "I could have taken you in an argument." His bright smile gave me one of my own.

"Maybe," I humored him. "But I'm glad it didn't have to come to that. I have no interest in being upset anymore. I don't even care if you did have me in your plans for whatever. Don't even tell me." I shook my head, closing my eyes. "Infiltrate the Shepherds and tear us apart from the inside if you want to, I don't care. Just leave me out of it, 'kay? Keep my name out of whatever you're doing, and I'll keep my peace. I don't want any part of it."

I stood up and looked to both of them. Neither looked ready to protest. In fact, Robert looked downright agreeable. His head was high and his smile was wide. "I have no problem with that," he said. "Dylan?"

"You will not be mentioned in the slightest from her on out," the laguz said, finally looking to me. "You have my word."

"I'll take it," I said, smiling at him. I thought—maybe I imagined it—the corners of his lips quirk up ever so slightly. Did I trust them completely? No, that would be unreasonable. They could be hiding any number of things from me or the others, an unknown amount of which could bring harm to myself or those I cared about. But they'd stuck with us this far, and I could give them a second chance. I was never the vengeful sort, anyway. "Good. Now if you two don't mind, I have somewhere I need to be."

"Are we cool, then?" Robert asked, his expression pained as he righted himself in his bed once more. "We're friends?"

"As much as we've ever been," I said, but shot him a wink. I began to walk to the door and had my hand on the knob when he spoke again.

"So am I invited to the wedding?" I sighed, but turned to face him as I twisted the door open.

"Only if I'm invited to yours and Cordelia's."

He broke out laughing as I left before it transitioned into a fit of coughing. "It's a deal!" he called through the coughing, and I couldn't help but laugh at that. Maybe he and I could turn out to be good friends in spite of everything that happened so far.

I trotted my way back to the far end of our set of buildings with a smile on my face, ignoring the calls of peddlers taking advantage of the mass of people still crowded here. I was in an ironic good mood after that. And to think, a single conversation changed the outcome from pissed off to this. Shame we couldn't solve all of our problems with simple words. Today was strangely enlightening in that way. _How many buildings were we given? Five? Or Four?_

Nervous I was going to walk into some stranger's building, I stopped at the third building to the East of the infirmary. Inside, half a dozen Shepherds were bustling about to clean up their sleeping quarters. Bags of trash had been gathered up to the left of the door, and it was beginning to pile up. Vaike and Ricken walked out of a doorway carrying a broken piece of wood, almost running into me in their path outside. "Oh, sorry there, Zach," Vaike said, "The Teach didn't see ya!"

"It's cool." I opened the door for them and stepped aside. Whatever that piece of wood was supposed to be, it was heavy. Vaike had little trouble, but small boy Ricken's cheeks were flushed from the effort.

"You out already?" a brash voice said from inside and a pressure on the door I was holding caught my attention. I looked up to see Sully leaning on it, her lips twisted into a smirk. "Broken arm can't be that easy to fix."

"Wasn't broken," I corrected, about to raise my arm before stopping myself. What Calliope had said was stuck in my head. "Just dislocated."

"Shit," she scoffed, "I could have fixed that." I chuckled. "But I assume you aren't here to work or sleep. Too early for that." Was it? The sky was still the same bright purple, so I had no idea how she could tell the time. Regardless, I kept myself from questioning her. "So what's up?"

"Can you tell me where the war room would be? I want to talk to Robin about something."

"Next house over," the cavalier said, jerking her thumb in the right direction. "But I think she's in a meeting right now."

I frowned, my go-getting attitude lessened slightly at the news. "What for?"

"Setting up some event with the Annas, I think," she said, but shrugged. What kind of event would she be setting up, now of all times? And with the Annas? That gave me a bad feeling in my guy. "I don't know. Hope she knows what she's doing, though. This identical family thing going on with them is shady enough as is."

"Yeah." An idea sprouted within me from all this talk of merchants, though. The secret sellers were bound to have something simple that I could use as an apology gift. It wouldn't be cheap though, so I asked Sully, "Can I borrow some change?"

Sure, words were good and all, but a gift goes a long way.

 **AN: So, I have one apology to a certain Stormrider. He'd been looking forward to the argument I was planning to have between Zach and the other OCs in the infirmary, and I'd been planning it up until last minute. And as you can see, that did not happen. I did not follow through, and for that I apologize, Storm. With the way things were turning out, I found that there had been more than enough negativity in recent chapters and our Shepherds were overdue for some peace and positive emotions. We could all use a happy ending every once in a while, even if it was just for a chapter. And I did not forget about Emile, trust me. I know what I'm doing.**

 **This chapter also turned out WAY longer than I'd anticipated. I had grand dreams of maybe 8 or 9 thousand words as like, way higher than I would actually get, yet here we are! Hope some parts don't seem too dragged out or rushed in this big boy.**

 **And, one announcement. This is the final chapter of Fractured and Burned to be released before summer vacation starts for me. Hopefully that means I can pump out consistently longer chapters in the same time frame, and also get out another project that I've been meaning to get done for quite some time now.**

 **Also, Scorrin, your last review had great idea in it. In the next chapter, I am going to include a full list of every OC in the story at this point and their creator. Every time a new OC is brought in, I will renew the list. That said, if any creators do not wish to be known or keep their connection to a character secret, DM so I will know to exclude you from the list.**

 **And I'm pretty sure this isn't a cliffhanger. Right?**

 **With that, I've said all I need to say. See ya.**

 **All of the Oats have left the Building.**


	25. Chapter 24: Coming to Light

**Fire Emblem and its characters belong to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.**

 **Thank you Stormrider for riding my ass until I got this done, and for your help along the way.**

 **Robert:**

"Well that went better than I'd thought it would," I admitted. I'd figured Zach would have been a bit more angry when he finally confronted us. Truthfully, I was a tad disappointed that he talked to Krystal beforehand. I was almost looking forward to getting into it with him after how standoffish he'd been, and, perhaps it was just me, but this little talk just felt…

"Anticlimactic," Dylan said, his next breath a deep sigh. His eyes flicked over to me for a second, and I had to chuckle. I was thinking out loud.

"Yeah," I said, shaking my head slightly at what I had done. "So you agree?"

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't expected something more fiery from the guy," the laguz said with a shrug, wincing as he did. "But I am glad it went this way. I am way too sore to argue right now."

"Maybe you're right." I could see where he was coming from. I would be left in a bad mood afterward, especially considering he was the first visitor we'd had since moving here besides Sumia and Calliope. Not that they counted.

It was interesting that Sumia was taking up healing, now. We were about at the point when people could start promoting in game, and I had to wonder what everyone else would be learning. If Sumia was learning how to heal, would Cordelia take up tomes and become, what was it, a dark flier? She could fire off spells from the sky to keep us covered, while I…

What would I do? What could I learn? If I was a mercenary, that left me to promote into hero and bow knight if I remembered correctly. While riding a horse into battle could be beneficial, I was no good with bows. I had little doubt I would miss next to everything if I tried. Besides, how would I be able to ride with someone else if I had a horse to take care of? No, I would not be a bow knight.

Axes were much simpler, more so than any other weapon I reckoned. Chop and hack, repeated as needed. Little learning required there, and who cared if I was nearsighted if I was face to face with my target? 'Hero' sounded much cooler than 'Bow Knight' too, if I was being honest. I'd be damned if I took that clunky arm thing, though. I was taking a normal Parma over that any day.

 **Unknown:**

"Congratulation, my king!" I said, strolling into the room he and that witch were brooding in with Dawn on my heels. "You succeeded in pushing the Ylisseans back and managed to carry through with ending the Exalt's life." It was a success in all fronts! We ended in victory, both here in the capital and out on the main field where our forces combated the combined might of Ferox and what remained of Ylisse's army, and I found myself a new toy to break and build anew.

"And that's enough to get you grinning like mad, is it?" Gangrel grumbled, resting his cheek against his fist. Across from me, the witch was grimacing, her arms crossed under her mostly exposed chest.

"Why should it not be, milord?" I asked, still smiling. The king's and witch's eyes were all pointed at me in a glare, and flicked briefly to Dawn, who was undoubtedly behind me with a grin wider than my own. "I have been so fortunate in recent times that I would be hard pressed not to smile. We pushed the Feroxi-Ylissean Alliance back once more, urging the frontline closer to the border, if you didn't know."

"So we beat back the barbarians, did we?" his droll tone was far from enough to dull my anticipation for later. Torture was not my fondest hobby, but breaking her down to build her back into a weapon of my control? Oh, that thought sent tingles up my spine. "Well, that's good and all but I want you try and rein in your smile. I am too damn frustrated to deal with two beaming smiles at once."

I forced my smile down, if only to smile wider later at how childish he sounded. I donned my mask of stoicism and Dawn caught the hint, looking down as I asked, "What has happened?"

"Aversa, fill them in," the king muttered, his scowl deeper and darker than it had been moments ago.

The witch cleared her throat and, after shooting one last glare at Dawn, said, "The Ylisseans escaped." Ah, short and sweet, made bitter by her biting tone. But still, how had they escaped? That didn't make any sense.

"I… I don't understand," I said. My brow furrowed and I crossed my arms. "How did they escape? You called Mustafa and my best wyvern riders down from the frontlines to stop just that. It almost cost me the victory!" Not quite, but it was jarring to my progress when he had me send most of my best away from where I need them most. I had to balance the lost by shifting the position of the soldiers and dark mages to the northeast while still retaining enough on the west to make sure my enemy didn't break past the knights walling them out. It was chaotic at first—I was almost forced to enter combat myself—but I pulled through. Clearly. Still, none of this made sense. "You're telling me they failed?"

"That's what reports say," the witch said with a shrug. "All of the spies we sent out afterward noted that they were dead. Every single one of them."

"You can't be serious." I sighed and leaned against the table. This was ridiculous! There were so few of them, and they were already fatigued by their fight here! There was no reason that Mustafa should have lost. Sure, the rushed travel back to the capital weighed on their stamina, but they had the numbers and strength! It was… "Wait, was he there to hear the Exalt's speech?"

The witch nodded in affirmation, and I let out a dry laugh. Of course he had. Typical Mustafa, I should have known. "Have you sent someone to tell his family?" I asked Gangrel directly, and he looked up as if I roused him from a nap.

"We figured it was best left to his tactician," the king said, no longer scowling in spite of his frown.

"Very well," I said, half-relieved. For all I knew, Gangrel would have sent an assassin to tell Mustafa's family of his death. In death shall they meet again, punishment for Mustafa's failure, whichever. "Dawn, will you send a messenger to the General's family? Let them know that he died valiantly for his country. Oh, and send someone to tell Henry, as well."

"You would have his family lied to?" the witch asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Pardon?"

"Do not get me wrong," she said, placing a hand over her tanned chest in defense. "All of my respect to the General, I know he served in many battles and came out victorious, but was this truly a valiant death? He lost to a group dwarfed by his own. So I ask again, is it right to embellish the truth when telling his family? You would lie to them now?"

Were it not for her being Gangrel's right hand, I would have struck her down. My hand was itching to grab Kurokaze's hilt and run her through. To see her silver hair soaked with blood, there was so much I would give. Instead, I retained control of myself and let out a slow breath.

"I would have his family greave," I growled. "Mustafa was a great, renowned warrior and deserves the utmost respect, even in death and even to his family. Now," I turned back to Dawn, who was still hesitant, her hand on the doorknob. "You can take your leave, Dawn."

"Sì, Maestro."

I ignored the look Gangrel gave me and cleared my throat. I put on the tone I usually reserved for those I commanded in battle. At the moment, keeping face in front of the king and his wench was far from my biggest concern. I was tired of this witch's presence already. "Alright, where were they last seen?"

"What?" both he and the witch asked, surprised at my sudden indignation.

"The Shepherds," I clarified, then tapped the large map between us. "Where were they last seen, or reportedly seen? I want to get down to business so I can return to the frontline, so if you would…" I waved my hand over the map and waited for one of them to direct me. They shared a brief look of bitterness at my tone, then the witch stepped forward and finally made herself useful.

 **Robert** :

People were talking in the front room. Even through the closed door, I could tell that all but one of the voices belonged to women. Too muffled to make any distinction, but that problem was solved when the door swung open. In walked Calliope followed by Krystal and Chrom, who was further tailed by Sumia.

"Well hello," I said, already in the midst of sitting up. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?" I swept my good arm out in a grand gesture, but was not greeted with the smiles I was hoping to get. Instead, Chrom and Calliope barely even acknowledged me, the former in a noticeably worse mood than I remembered. He was perhaps the grumpiest person I'd seen since waking up, which said something because I'd been in Dylan's company for several hours now. Krystal and Sumia both looked over to me, however. The pegasus knight shrugged at the captain's and healer's indifference and the dark mage averted her gaze as soon as our eyes met.

"Take a seat," Calliope told the dark mage, who obeyed silently. Krystal surveyed the room as the healer checked her over. She shrunk into herself upon realizing that all of our eyes were on her. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came, and Calliope spoke for her instead. "Krystal fell unconscious in battle earlier. Probably just over exertion and exhaustion, but in times as stressful as these one can never be too careful, so I suggested a check up."

Sumia asked the Exalt-to-be if he wanted to get checked up as well, but he dismissed the offer. He had sustained no injuries in either this fight or the last, he'd said. When both the pegasus knight and Calliope frowned, I suspected they hadn't meant checking him for wounds. These were high stress times, like the cleric had said, and few if any were liable to be hit as hard as the prince.

For a time, they all fell quiet, and I was tempted to break the silence by asking what Chrom was here for if he was not seeking medical attention. My curiosity, however, was trumped by my common sense. I was well-versed in tension, and his posture alone—all power and volatility—was a clear enough sign that he was ready to explode on the slightest provocation. Not a fight I intended to get into, especially like this.

"You seem to be fine," Calliope said after a while, rising to her feet. She gave Krystal a supportive smile and a gentle pat on the leg before continuing. "Just rest and relax until we move out again. Perhaps a visit to the hot springs will do you some good. Perhaps all of you will gain something from a bath at the very least. You stand the most to gain from a warm bath, Robert."

"Hey!" I barked, ready to jump to the defensive until I realized what her implications possibly were. "Wait, do you mean I'm free to go? I'm not stuck to this bed anymore?" I could not hold my eagerness to stretch my legs from affecting my voice. It rose a bit higher than I'd expected, earning a grin from the cleric, but I ignored that. "Finally?"

"'Finally?'" she repeated. She reared on me, her hands on her hips in a sassy pose. "You've been incapacitated for a while, sure, but you haven't been awake very long at all. Coherent for even less."

"Doesn't matter," I retorted. "Still too long to be cooped up, all immobile like this. I need to move." I had been near motionless for far too long. My limbs were stiff and achy, begging for freedom from the infirmary.

"Well I have good news," she said. "I only have a few more things to do, but then you will be free to go. So to speak."

Just as quickly as my spirits rose did they fall. I scowl at her, though the fact that there would be conditions to my freedom was no surprise. Calliope noticed my foul expression and countered it by folding her arms. "What? You can't expect me to turn you loose completely. Not with your injuries."

"So why not just keep me here?"

The healer shrugged. "I get the feeling that if I do, you'll just complain until I do let you out, and I have no interest in listening to you for any longer than I have to." Her words were offset by the way her lips curled up at the edges. I rolled my eyes, then turned to Sumia as she spoke up.

"Aside from that, I know a certain someone has been worrying herself to death over you." I met her eyes while a knowing smile found its place on her face. I tried to feign ignorance, going far enough to put a dumbfounded expression on my face, but I knew who she was implying. Which was why I wasn't sure if I liked the subtle shine in her eyes.

"I can't say I know who you're talking about," I lied. "You care to enlighten me?" Sumia frowned, hands on her hips. She did not care to enlighten me. "Alright, it seems like I have little choice. Calliope, what are these conditions for me to get out of here?"

"Well, in short, I need to do one more final checkup to make sure you are fit to move about. It will be difficult to get back into the swing of things—I suggest an escort to help you around—"

Sumia excused herself then, spinning on her heel and hurrying out of the room. "Seems like she has that covered," the healer observed. She hummed to herself before resuming what she was saying. "Anyway, an escort will be a certain boon. I suspect you will welcome company aside from us and Dylan, as well. But that isn't all. You have to be careful and cautious. You're still healing, and certain things can stunt that."

"Yes," I said, "I've dislocated my shoulder before."

"Then you know that you'll be put in a splint, much like Zach. And also that you're injured far more than he is. You've broken ribs and some lingering lacerations."

A muttering of "Sorry," from Dylan.

"You will need to keep from straining yourself, and keep torso movement to the minimum. Let yourself heal." She finished her statement with a pointed, authoritative look.

"I know." I'd gone through all this before, after all. Maybe not this exact situation, but the specifics were unimportant. I also already knew what she was going to say next, if her conversation with Zach was any indication. "And yes, you have my word that I will not put myself through needless strain until I am sufficiently healed."

"Do I? For some reason," the healer crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, "I feel as though you won't keep to your word."

I rolled my eyes, ignoring the quiet laugh that Krystal muffled. "So what would you have me do?" I asked. "You want me to sign a waiver or something?"

To my surprise, Calliope actually seemed to consider it for a moment, her finger on her chin and her eyes pointed up to the dark ceiling. I took this opportunity to share an amused look with Dylan, Krystal, and Chrom, the latter two of whom surprised me by simply still being here. I'd figured they would have left some time ago. They must have found some entertainment in me vying for my freedom.

"No," Calliope said a few seconds later. "No, I think I'll just have your escort make frequent reports to me on your activities." Her expression turned dark, then. "And if I find out you've been putting yourself through too much strain, I am hauling you here myself and keeping you cooped up until the Captain says I can no longer."

It occurred to me that her declaration had sounded less creepy in her head, but it definitely drilled the consequences into my head. This meant I had two choices: either I had to actually listen to the cleric and relax for a while, or I find an escort that I could convince to lie for me when I did something irresponsible. The latter would have been simple enough, seeing as I nearly sacrificed myself for everybody here. I could just play on the guilt factor if I needed.

We all turned toward the door to the front room as we heard the front door close. Sumia's voice marked her return. "Speaking of that escort," Calliope said, on her way to open the door.

"They're in here," I heard the pegasus knight say, then a voice I was only half-expecting.

"You said he's awake and w—Sumia!" came Cordelia's muffled, then suddenly panicked voice as something hit the door with a heavy thud.

Calliope swung the door open at that and in tumbled Sumia, falling to the floor to hit her face for what I presumed was the second time in a minute. Behind her was Cordelia, equal-parts flustered and concerned with a small bundle of cloth in her hand. "Sumia, are you alright?" both Cordy and the cleric asked at the same time.

The fallen flier stood up and brushed herself off with a sigh. "Yes," she said, "I'm fine. Part of being as clumsy as I am is you get used to this sort of thing." A slight blush colored her cheeks.

Huh. That explained why she didn't make as much as a cry when she fell.

It was now that I began to piece things together, specifically why Sumia had left at the exact time of Calliope mentioning an escort for me. I see. Very clever, Sumia. I smirked and shook my head before waving to the two pegasus knights. "So that's what you meant earlier, Sumia," I said. She met my eyes for a moment, then a subtle blush colored her cheeks and the corners of her lips quirked up as she caught my drift. Cordy noticed me now, as well, so I nod to her. "Hey, I heard you were worried about me."

She let out a gasp and something flashed in her eyes. In an instant, she was crossing the distance and pulling me into a way tighter hug than I could have expected. I hissed in pain, her weight like a punch. The combination of how unexpected the gesture was and my still jacked up ribs knocked the air from my chest and hurt really fucking bad. I couldn't even move my arms until Calliope and Sumia called her name. "Fuck that hurt, girl," I said after she loosened her grip and let me breathe again. "Just 'cause I'm healthy doesn't mean I'm fully healed."

"Oh, gods," she said. "I'm sorry, I just saw you and got carried away."

"This is touching and all," Chron said curtly, his interjection almost sudden enough to make even me jump, "but I'm going to take my leave." Cordelia, having not previously registered the prince's presence, went bright red, pushed away from me and stood up. She stood stiff as a rod while the prince gave his brief and gruff farewell. I watched after him for a moment, certain that he needed someone to slap him from his doldrums.

He shut the door behind him, and soon after Krystal excused herself too. Cordelia's rigid posture faded with a sigh, and she slumped against the wall. "What was that about?" I asked. "Did something happen between you and the captain while I was out?" It was unlikely, but stranger things had happened since I came to Ylisse.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sumia tense up before tugging on Calliope's arm and whispered in her ear. The cleric, who had been watching from the side in bemusement, nodded and hurried out of the room. If Sumia was expecting Cordy to outright say what was wrong, though, she was mistaken. Instead, the scarlet-haired sky knight closed her eyes and crossed her arms. "No, nothing happened. I was just surprised to see him here." Yeah, okay, hon.

When she opened her eyes again, she was smiling. "Anyway, Sumia tells me you're healed enough to walk around." She glanced back at her best friend, who nodded in assurance. "That's good news!"

"Yeah," I agreed, "though I have to limit my movement and be escorted everywhere."

"At least you'll be out," Cordelia said. "And it's proof your healing. For a while, I—we weren't sure you would even do that."

"Was it that bad?" I asked, then let out a chuckle at her incredulous look.

"Yes it was that bad," she scoffed, "do you not remember?" I shook my head.

"All I remember is a whole lot of pain, a weird dream, then waking up here. Anything else before that I only know because Dylan told me." I jerked my thumb toward the laguz, who waved at Cordelia.

She greeted him, leaning against the wall by the foot of my bed. "So how much did he tell you?"

I told her everything I was told, which was basically everything Dylan knew. He saw Mustafa standing over me with an axe, so he decided to do the first thing that came to mind and threw an entire wyvern my way. Saved my life, apparently. Then he'd said Cordy flew me to the town the Shepherds were staying at, and that I looked pretty beat up, though he hadn't gotten a good look at me then. I didn't elaborate on that strange dream I mentioned, even though it was the one thing I vividly remembered.

When I finished summarizing what I'd been told, Cordelia was looking at the floor. "'Beat up' is an understatement." Her voice was quiet, just above a whisper. "You were hardly conscious when I found you. I don't think I've ever seen so much blood, not even--" She cut herself off by clearing her throat. Still, I had a decent idea of where that sentence was heading. "You went under twice before I got you to the others. Both times I was scared I wouldn't be able to bring you back. It was a miracle you came back the first time."

Tell me about it, I thought. If my dream was any indication, than she was much closer to the truth than she realized.

"By the time I got you to the others," she started again, "I was almost certain that I was too late. But then you woke up again, and--and you gave me these." She undid the bundle of cloth in her hand and dumped its contents onto the side of my bed. She picked up one of the glittering silver objects and held it up to me.

"The wing pins." I could have face-palmed right here, were it not for my injuries. How could I have forgotten about them, or the stench of death and rot that permeated the cellhouse where I got them, I had no idea. I remembered now that I was certain both the sight and smell of that place would be burned forever into my memory. Suppose that shows what a good blow to the head can do. "I got those for you. Figured you would want them. As a reminder."

"I thought I was going to lose you too." There was palpable hurt in her voice. I had to do something to comfort her, so I opened my arms and gestured for her to hug me again. She took the invitation without hesitation, though her embrace this time was more careful and considerate of my wounds.

I looked over her to Sumia, who was still standing off to the side. "Get Calli for me," I mouthed, and she nodded before exiting as silently as possible. Meanwhile, light sobs and sniffles from Cordy were muffled by my shoulder. "Shhh," I hushed, rubbing a thumb over her back. "It's ok, Cordy, I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going to just roll over and die from a couple bites of an axe and a falling wyvern." The absurdity of that statement would have been enough to wring a laugh out of me any other day. Something like that could be said nowhere other than this world. "Look at me." I tilted her head up. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, "Those wing pins aren't just to remember your fallen sisters. I wanted to remind you that no matter what, you aren't alone, be it with me or the other Shepherds. You are never alone, Cordy. Never." I held her until the sobs faded back into nothing more than little hitches in her breath.

She stood and wiped her eyes, saying, "Thank you. For everything."

There was a knock on the door before Calliope eased it open. The healer peered in to gauge the scene, then entered with a calm, friendly smile. In her hands was a collection of medical supplies, which she used to perform a final check up, rewrap what bandages I still needed, and put my arm in a good splint. She was talkative the entire time, and asked Cordelia if she was interested in getting checked up, as well. She declined with grace, however, and Calli dropped it there.

"What are your plans once you get out of here?" the cleric asked. "Are you going to see the sights of the Outrealm while you're here?"

"May as well," I said, shrugging. "I have no interest in just sitting around. I might just hit up the baths, like you said. Maybe even see what I have left for money after the whole fiasco in Plegia." I needed a new coat and a new sword, after all, and what better place to buy both than a place filled with nothing but merchants? "You know if they still have my guitar with?" I asked Cordelia, speaking over Calli's head. Last place I remembered it being was the convoy, but I didn't know how that fared after Mustafa's ambush. Nevertheless, a little music would do the people some good, even if this damn sling was going to get it the way.

The pegasus knight frowned. "I... don't know," she admitted. "I haven't been taking inventory for the past few days."

"I'm all for having fun and while I do think music could brighten everyone's mood," Calliope butted in, "perhaps discussing a plan that goes against your healer's order literally over your healer's head is not the best idea."

"Sorry, Calli, still gonna do it. I've always been one to test the orders of doctors. Besides, its only either the movement of fingers or the whole arm." I replied with a sly smirk.

"Sorry, Robert," she retorted, standing up. "I'm just going to have to haul your ass back here and tie you to the bed."

"Ooh." That was interesting, coming from the little healer. "I'm not sure words like that should be coming from a lady of the cloth. You're starting to sound like Sully. Besides, I am not confident that you could haul me anywhere." I gestured to her smaller stature. She really sounded like some demented dominatrix there or something.

She crossed her arms. "Maybe so, but remember this: healer's orders trump all command. If you think I am unable to get someone who can and will bring you back here, then you will be sorely mistaken."

"Cordy, protect me from this power hungry little physician!" I cried in mock fear. "I'm freaked out of my fucking mind here."

Cordelia looked plain confused. With a glance, I realized she seemed like she wanted to ask me a question, but the feeling was gone as quick as it came.

"Just get out of here," Calliope said with a laugh, pointing to the door. "You're good to go. I don't care if you play your music, either, but you had better take care not to strain yourself."

I rolled my eyes, but Cordelia tapped my shoulder, suddenly serious. Was I really going to get this treatment from her, too? Perhaps letting Sumia choose her as my escort was a bad idea. "I'll keep a good eye on him," the scarlet-haired pegasus knight promised, and I could not help but sulk a little.

"Shit, now I have two cute redheads who will not let me do anything, what a bunch of sticks in the mud." I said, smirking at them. I saw them both turn a little pink, and Calli pointed to the door.

"OUT!" she yelled, earning a slight snicker from me as I wrapped an arm around the beet red Cordelia and walked out. As we were walking out, I heard her mutter, "My hair isn't red."

Just as I wrapped my hand around the doorknob of the front door, it was yanked open from the outside. Standing in the doorway was a certain yellowish-green haired manakete with a bright smile on her face. "Hi," she said, "is Dylan here?"

I ruffled a hand through her hair, "Hey, Nowi. He's right inside, go ahead. Just watch out, I may have ticked off Calli a little," I said, scratching the back of my head sheepishly. Let's allow Dylan some fun.

From behind me, I heard a cluttering noise, like something was knocked over, and half expected Calli to come storming out. I was surprised to instead see Dylan come sprinting out of the back room to dive over Nowi's head.

"You motherfucker, Robert!" he yelled, his voice growing farther away as he ran as fast as he could from the diminutive manakete.

This just made her smile, however, and she soon gave chase, calling after him that she was so glad he wanted to play. I laughed so hard that Cordelia had to keep me from falling to the ground. "L-looks like 'hurricane Nowi' has claimed its next victim!" I said, still busting a gut laughing. Wow, I'm only just up and managed to completely screw with two people. Must be my lucky day. "So," I turned to Cordy after my laughter died down. "What do you want to do?

She stopped walking, staring to the ground in thought. Seeing as I felt bad for making her worry, I wanted to do something with her first. A bath could wait. "Not sure," she said. "I think a visit to the springs would do us some good, and then we can work out where your stuff went. By then, the others should be settled in and Robin will probably have some announcement. Does that sound alright?" she asked.

It was a bit speculative for my taste, but what the hell, we were on vacation, right? At least, a sort of vacation. "Sounds fine to me."

 **Krystal:**

"I would take caution with him, girl. Before the rest of you got here and we blocked the Risen out, he held off an entire street full of them by himself. There must have been twenty or thirty Risen coming down that street and he didn't have a scratch to show on him. There was death in his eyes."

That was what one of the Anna's had pulled me aside to say when I was following after Chrom. It made me worry about him more than before, and made me feel even worse inside. I needed to talk to him, no matter what that Anna had said

Now, standing outside his door ten minutes later, I found myself unable to open it. I knew it wasn't what the Anna had said that was getting to me--no matter what, I refused to believe that Chrom would hurt me, or any of the Shepherds. Still…

It was intimidating, standing in front of him like he was. On the way to the infirmary, I found it impossible to speak. All of the right words were lost to me, so I stayed quiet. Now I couldn't even open the darn door.

I sighed and slid to the floor with my back to the wall of the hallway. I pulled my knees up to my chest and rested my head on them as I tried to motivate myself to just… open the door! Stride in there with confidence and… and then what? Start blabbing about how worried I was?

"Oh, that won't do," I murmured. I couldn't just charge in there without some sort of plan on what to say. If I tried, I knew I would end up freezing and making a fool of myself.

No more of a fool than I look now, sitting in the middle of the hall. Right. I couldn't sit here all day.

It took a great deal of mental effort to force myself to my feet and even more to move my hand to the doorknob. It shifted a bit and made a small noise at my touch. "No going back now."

I took a deep breath and opened the door. Inside, all the curtains were drawn in, leaving me blind aside from what lantern light came from the hall. I saw Chrom's bag stuffed in the corner of the room. Falchion was off to the side, still in its scabbard, and sitting on the otherwise empty floor next to his bed with one knee raised was the prince himself. My heart wrenched when I saw the shield in his hands. Nervous, I reached behind me to ease the door shut until I heard it click.

"The Fire Emblem," he said, not bothering to look up. His voice was low and soft as he seemed to read my thoughts. Did he know it was me? Did he even care? "The Shield of Seals. The Pedestal of Flames. All grand names for something with a supposedly grander purpose. But as it is now, it's nothing more than a blasted shield. Just a piece of metal. So many wars over a chunk of metal. First, I lose my father, our country loses half its people and its livelihood, and Emm loses her childhood.

"Now we lose Ylisstol, our Pegasus Knights… and I lose Emm. Our peace. My sister. The single best thing that this entire world has ever given us. All of it…" he shook his head, his breathing unsteady. "Gone. Gone, over a GODS DAMNED SHIELD!" In his rage, he pitched the Fire Emblem across the room. A gasp escaped me as the shield rebounded off of the wall opposite him and clattered to the floor. I could not speak.

"It took her! It took everything from me!" he roared. One hand took a fistful of his hair while the other slammed hard against the wooden floor. "None of this wouldn't have happened if it weren't for this damned shield!"

I watched in shock as he lashed out with his foot, kicking away the Sacred Shield. My hands were fast at my sides, clenched into fists I could not release. This… This was wrong. "Chrom." My voice was a whisper, a breath I had meant to keep to myself.

"Father would still be here!"

I…

"There would be peace!"

I'm… I had to do something.

"Emm--" His voice broke, and so did my resolve. "Emmeryn wouldn't be--"

I'm sorry. I crossed the room, my own eyes burning. I'm sorry. My arms were around him before I realized it. I'm sorry. In seconds, I was crying with him. "I'm sorry, Chrom," I sobbed.

"It took her from me, Krystal." I know. "Emm is gone." I wanted to tell him that he was wrong, that she would be found later, but… Gods, I didn't know if she could! I wanted to tell him that I could help him get Emmeryn back, but I would be lying. "My big sister is gone." His voice was different, broken. It was not the friendly voice of Chrom, prince of Ylisse. It was not the strong voice of Chrom, captain of the Shepherds. It was the sobbing, tear-clogged voice of Chrom, grieving brother to the fallen Exalt Emmeryn.

In the game, Chrom was silent. He went with the others to Ferox and Sumia punched him in the face to snap him from his doldrums. In the game, that worked. This was not the game.

This was real, and Chrom was grieving like a human would. He was stripped of whatever pedestal he tried to stand on while leading us. His emotions were laid bare here. And it was heartbreaking. "I'm sorry." I repeated. I could have stopped this, prevented all of this. I should have told him what we knew, that Robin's plan would fail. We could have planned around it. Who cared if we never made it home? Seeing him like this, I knew I didn't. "I-I should have done something, I'm sorry."

"I should have just given him the shield…" I could hear that single thought through his words. I knew it echoed through his head.

I took a moment to gather myself. He didn't need me crying with him. He needed someone to help him, to be strong for him. If I had to, I would be that person.

"It wouldn't wouldn't have mattered," I murmured. "Giving him the shield would not have mattered. Gangrel would have killed her anyway."

His sobs went unabated. My words weren't reaching him. The way he shuddered against me with each wracking cry was almost enough to break me down again, but I held strong. I had to be the pillar this time.

I welled up what confidence I could and pulled away. Without my shoulder to lean against, his head slumped down to his chest and his hands fell away. Mine, meanwhile, held fast to his shoulders. I gave him a light shake, but he was unresponsive. "Chrom, l-look at me." It took a bit of effort to get those words out between my shaky breaths.

But he did not move. I slid my hand under his chin then, and lifted his head until I could look him in the eyes. When I did, I faltered. In his blue eyes was the most broken reflection of himself that I could imagine. A fractured mirror showing the pieces of him that needed to be put back together.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head against his. It was easier to speak when I didn't have to look my guilt in the eyes. "Gangrel was out for blood, and the shield would not have stopped him from killing Emmeryn. It was out of your control."

His mouth opened and closed. I felt what strength I had fading, so I prayed he had no words to combat me. "There was nothing to be done." I moved my hand to the nape of his neck and pulled him back into a hug. "All that we can do now is focus on ending this war and bringing the peace she would have wanted."

It treaded a dangerous line, I knew. It may have been unwise bringing up what Emmeryn would have wanted, but it was my final gambit before I slouched against him. I had no more energy to speak.

I had no idea how long we sat in silence after that. Time was difficult in the dark, but it was several minutes at the very least before he moved his arms around me and hugged me back. His crying had since waned off, and we were both still in the darkness. It was just when my consciousness began to fade that I heard him speak.

"You're right," he said. "She left the future to us, to me. She put her trust in my hands, that I would make the right choice when the time came. And my choice… my choice is to continue forward. Our fight isn't done yet. Thank you, Krystal." Whatever he said next fell on sleeping ears.

 **Emile:**

After two hours--I assumed it was two hours, based on the bell tolls--of sitting around doing nothing, the Annas having abandoned me as soon as we made it to the town center, I decided to take a walk. I figured at the very least that the clear air would help me remember what forgotten task was itching at the back of my mind.

As soon as I left the house I was going to be calling home for the next few days, though, I was met with a torrent of people flooding past me. Amidst the mob were heads of red, Annas shouting and directing the tourists. "The Risen have been cleared out!" they said, and "If the Gold Pass holders could go this way!" and "Platinum Holders here, please!"

I merely stood to the side until the crowd thinned enough for me to sidle through it.

Now that the mass of people wasn't clouding my vision, I could get a good look at the square. Most of the buildings seemed to be a traditional Japanese style of all things, with the tiled roofs and shoji walls. The ground, though, was remarkably modern looking, made of smooth, paved stone. This was the sole disruption to the theme, however. Even the giant tower at the opposite side of the square looked like something straight out of a Nippon travel brochure. At the top was an open-air section, too, though it was too high up for me to see what was in it.

My curiosity and lack of anything better to do got the better of me. I sifted through the thinning crowd and made my way toward the tower. The closer I got, the more daunting it became. While its size was nothing compared to the likes of modern skyscrapers, it was certainly impressive for whatever time period we were in.

And I wanted to climb to the top.

When I got to the entrance--a normal door, strangely--the two Annas standing guard crossed their spears in front of it.

"Sorry," one said, waving me away.

"Off-limits to tourists without Gold Passes or higher," said the other. She mimicked her sister's gesture and waved me off, which was a pretty effective way to put a frown on my face. There goes that idea, I thought, ready to turn around when a hand clapped my shoulder and something gold shined in the corner of my eye.

"I got him covered," said a third Anna, who I presumed was the one with her hand on my shoulder. The guards increased their spears, and the third Anna tugged me forward. As I passed through, I noticed the guards share a cheeky grin, which made me a little fearful for what was at the top of the tower.

My mysterious benefactor closed the door behind us, and I found myself in a paper lantern lit room separated from the another by one of those sliding panels. "Shoes off here," Anna said.

"I-I'm assuming you're the Anna that knows me, right?" I asked, sitting down to unlace my boots.

"Nope," she said, slipping out of her sandals. "You just looked like you needed some help getting in and I was feeling generous. But it'll cost you."

I blanched, patting myself down for wherever I kept my coin pouch. My luck is the worst today. Not only was this some random Anna, but she was charging me for getting me into a tower? Ridiculous. I found it, and was about to unfasten it when she laughed. "I'm just kidding. Yes, I am the one you helped in Ferox some time ago."

I sighed in relief. Gods, I was worried. "Good," I breathed, sliding my boots off.

"You still have to pay me, though." My eyes shot up to her, humorless. I hoped she was joking, but that trademark smile of theirs meant a lot of things. She held my gaze for a while, before laughing again. "Ah, fine. I just want you to answer some questions for me once we get to the top."

I furrowed my brow at the strange specification, but didn't put much thought into it. She waved for me to follow, but I had to catch up because she decided not to wait for me. "You know," I said as we started up the winding stairs, "I really need some way to differentiate between you and your family. It's kind of a hassle when I have no way of knowing."

"I suppose we could find a way," she agreed, shrugging. "Perhaps a little trinket or accessory, though I won't be spending money on it. That part is up to you. On that note, I don't really see the point."

"Why?"

"Frankly, I don't expect that we'll we'll be seeing each other very much, especially after you return to Ylisse." Right. We hadn't recruited her yet. "That is not to say I wouldn't appreciate a gift."

"Right." Ugh, how high did this thing go? It seemed taller on the inside, with an endless staircase leading to the darkness. The lanterns that hung from the railing left a trail of light into the void, like little orange stars. "How tall is this thing, anyway?"

"What's your preferred system of measurement?" Anna replied, and I froze. Could I just say "The English System"? Would she know what that was? I realized I'd stopped moving and hustled to catch up.

"Um, I-I meant how many floors," I half-lied. "Or stories, if you will.

Anna threw a glance back at me, but said nothing. I frowned, but ultimately did the same. "Technically only two floors--the ground floor and the roof. But by traditional story height…" she hummed in thought, finger on her chin. "Maybe 7 or 8?"

"Wow." That was around 70 feet, right? "Impressive. I'm surprised something with this structure could hold the weight." It was also a little disheartening, because that just meant there were more stairs for me to climb.

"It isn't too uncommon for this realm," she said. "A lot of buildings in other cities get even higher, though this is probably the highest point around here. Which is why we charge more to enter. A tourist trap within a tourist trap." She chuckled, proud of the "ingenuity." Sure, it was a good business idea, but it seemed kind of cheap to me. Then again, my sense for business was lacking to say the least.

"I'm assuming th-th-the hot springs are what draw most of the customers, then?" I asked, for some reason trying to keep the conversation going.

"No contest," she replied. "Honestly, perhaps the best business opportunity my family has ever taken. Though the competition from everyone trying to sell their own wares from different realms makes things a bit cluttered. But business is business. Speaking of…" she stopped and whirled around to face me. "Have you visited the springs yet?"

"Uh, no?" I answered, raising an eyebrow "I… haven't gotten the chance, what with the walking dead in the streets. They kept us fairly busy."

"That is true," she said, nodding sagely with her eyes closed before turning and continuing up the stairs. "They were quite a fair amount of trouble. Shame the dead can't compensate for damage to profit." What a peculiar woman. "Anyway, I very much suggest going to the springs. They do wonders for the skin and really soothe your aching muscles."

I scowled and narrowed my eyes at her. "Is this some kind of business play to get me to pay you?"

"Not at all." She turned to face me again, pouting slightly, her head cocked to the side like a little dog. "What would dare give you that idea?" She sounded sincere enough, but she was still an Anna. I knew there was something she was getting at, and my legs were too sore for jokes. "If you're still skeptical, I can go with you." Her eyes swept over me, a playful smirk replacing her pout. "I could certainly find worse company to bathe with."

Bathe with? It took a moment for the comment to sink in, but its effect was immediate. Ah, fuck. There it was. My face went bright red. I turned my face in attempt to hide the furious blushing, but the merchant had already seen it. She burst out laughing, and I blushed harder if it was even possible. "Gods, you vex me."

"Hurry up, now. We should get to the top before the next bell toll." She was on her way already. "If it tolls while we're in here, the reverberation is hell on your ears."

 **Ω:**

My legs were killing me by the time we made it to the top. I was convinced this trip would not be worth the effort, but Anna egged me onward.

The stairs ended at the top in a flat square, in the middle of which was ladder leading up to a heavy metal hatch in the grates ceiling. Anna had me go first, for some reason, so I flipped it open and climbed through.

First thing I saw was an enormous brass bell. Another Anna was sitting cross-legged and reading a book on a mat next to it. There was an incense burning on the mat, as well as a trickling hourglass. "Hey," Bell-Anna said, "You made it before the next toll." Without looking up from her book, she pointed to the hourglass. True enough, most of the sand had flowed to the bottom before we made it here.

"So this is it?" I was underwhelmed. The bell was cool an all, but this climb was a disproportionate pain to see it. "Just a bell? I can't see how this sells."

"The bell isn't what sells it." Anna hoisted herself through the hatch and flipped it closed. "The view is."

I frowned at her, but she waved her hand for me to take a look. What I saw was jaw-dropping.

Below us, the purple lighting that I'd thought was the sky flowed by like a low-hanging cloud. The real sky was a beautiful blend of reds, oranges, and purples. They bled together as the sun set behind mountains I hadn't known were there. I could see every house in town, and there were more than I thought. "Whoa."

"Pretty cool, huh?" Anna walked over to the railing and leaned over it. "See why people like to come up here?"

I nodded.

"Most of the time I prefer to be on the ground, no real customers up here." She smiled. "Right now, though, both of these views make this spot kinda worth it."

I looked at her and frowned. More than one view? What is she talking about? She was looking at me out of the corner of her eye, but I turned away to look for whatever other view she was talking about. If she meant the other sides of the tower looking over the rest of the town, then I had to agree that they were nice. Don't think I would count them as separate views, though.

As I returned to her side, she burst out laughing. One hand held the railing while the other clutched her stomach as she laughed harder than before. "Oh, ohhhhoho, oh you're an oblivious one sometimes, aren't you?"

My frown deepened as she tried to reign in her laughter. In that time, I noticed Bell-Anna was also shaking with silent laughter as she stood up. "Alright, you two should cover your ears. It's going to get loud."

She stood up, stretched her back, and grabbed a rope hanging from the bell. Anna tugged my arm and covered her ears. I took the hint and copied her just in time. The clanging of the bell was louder than I anticipated, making the floor shake with vibrations from the clear tone it gave off to the entire realm.

As it died down, I took my fingers out of my ears, and looked at the sky, at the beautiful sunset as it melted into the horizon. It was a spectacular view.

"Like I said," Anna began after a minute or two, "I do have a few questions I would like to ask you. Aunty, if you'd please." She fished a coin out of the folds of her yukata and tossed it Bell-Anna, who winked before descending inside the tower.

"She's your aunt?"

"Great-Aunt, yes, but that isn't important." I begged to differ. Despite the age difference that implied, the two of them were identical, which raised another question: how was she able to tell that Bell-Anna was her great-aunt in oppose to, say, her first cousin? How could any of them tell?

"First question: what is this little group of yours?" I cocked my head to the side, unsure of what she meant. "I assumed you were mercenaries the first time we met, but that isn't right, is it? I don't recall Ylisse hiring any mercenaries in the past decade, especially not to help rescue their captured Exalt. But that isn't all. None of you have the grizzled, professional attitude that mercenaries with such an important mission would have. So I have to ask." She pushed off the railing she was leaning on and stood straight with crossed arms. "If you aren't mercenaries, what are you?"

"We're just a group of people fighting for our country," I said. I put it in as plain words as possible, because our cause was not complex. "That's all there is to it."

"Really?" Anna seemed taken aback. Not by the answer itself, perhaps, but the complicity of it. "That's…" She looked away, turning her eyes to the street below. "That's surprisingly noble. Not the answer I was expecting."

"Oh?"

"Most of the fighting you hear about nowadays is petty and dirty. Everyone fights to take, which I have no problems with if it means I can make a good coin, but to hear that there are still those who fight for the noble purpose of their people…" She shrugged. "Well, I can't help but think that you're all going to get the short end of the stick sometime."

"Maybe we already did," I mused. The thought of Emmeryn and that whole mess of a situation came to mind. If there was ever a short straw, that was it. "W-we've been through some rough times already, after all."

"Then perhaps you need a cunning businesswoman to steer you clear of any other sour deals."

I nodded thoughtlessly before what she was implying sunk in. "Wait, are you serious?" It was a gut feeling of mine that we would be recruiting her at some point, but this was rather sudden to me. "You want to join us?"

"Sure." She shrugged again. She leaned her cheek on her palm and sighed, but never looked from the street below. My eyes, on the other hand, never moved as I awaited her explanation. "I'd like to say it is because I want to repay my debt to you all. After all, your little group saved me a lot of trouble, maybe even my life, back in Ferox. Then I hear from my sisters that some of you held off the risen free of charge while the tourists were secured, on your own vacation, no less."

She shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose, but smiled nonetheless. I was beginning to think that her family was incapable of any other expresion. How did she feel underneath that smile. "Perhaps that debt is part of it, but I would be lying if I said money wasn't."

"Money?"

"Like I said, I have no problem with making some decent coin from war." She watched me out of the corner of her eye, perhaps gauging my reaction, but I wasn't surprised. What else would an Anna want? "Imagine the killing I could make travelling alongside a group with war on their heels at all times, like yours."

I was silent. She was right, after all, and her skills as both a thief and a healer would be great boons to us. But from a moral standpoint, I wasn't sure her motivations were fitting for the type of image that we wanted. Either way, it was not my decision to make.

"Maybe we can ask Chrom." It was the best I could offer, but I was not looking forward to it. Chrom was a tad more intimidating than usual, and I didn't know of he was a morning person. "If you want, I could check with him tomorrow and get back to you on it."

"I'll be looking forward to it." She pushed off of the rail and stretched her arms behind her, winking at me mid-motion. "And hey, if you get me this job, I may even offer you a special deal."

Her tone, and the emphasis on the word "special" sent a shiver down my spine, and I averted my eyes. This woman was damnably vexing. I was torn now on whether or not I wanted her to join the Shepherds, if it meant she kept this up. "I… I think I'll be going now."

"Sounds good," she said. Her hand waved me off as I lifted the hatch. "I'm going to relax up here for a while longer, but I'll check with you tomorrow morning.

As I descended the ladder, and then down the torturous stairwell, one thought flashed through my head to clear the haze that'd weighed on me for the past few days: I haven't felt this anxious in years. Maybe I should talk to Chrom now, before nerves get the better of me.

On my way to see Chrom, I got delayed. I didn't know which house he was staying in, so I decided to ask the other Shepherds. This lone question sparked a series of conversations that soaked up several hours of the day, the most prominent of which involved Sully challenging me go a duel at sunrise. I had all but forgotten what my initial intention was, and it wasn't until I heard Robin asking where Chrom was that I remembered.

The bell tolled 11 when I volunteered to check his room and asked where it was. Robin pointed me in the right direction and I was off, but that I had to hurry and get back before I missed anything important. Robin asking me to fetch Chrom fit so perfectly with my initial plan that it managed to cool my nerves. If he got mad at me for intruding on his… whatever he was doing then I could just say Robin sent me and shift the blame. Genius.

That was not to say I was confident, strolling up the stairs and down the lamplit hallway to Chrom's room. Confrontation has never been one of my strengths, what with my lack of contact before coming here, and the recent mood the prince had been in was not helping things. I urged forward regardless, knowing that I could either return to Robin empty handed and never will myself to talk to Chrom again, or I could make an attempt now and be done with this. Of course, that still meant talking to Anna about it tomorrow, and gods knew what implications she would put in my mouth or tease me with then.

Ugh, this entire situation was a mess. Luck was not on my side today.

I knocked on what I presumed was Chrom's door. Silence was the reply, so I waited a bit before trying again. I dared not knock louder, just in case he was asleep. After my third knock in five minutes, I was fed up with waiting and decided to peek inside. If he was sleeping, I would leave him to get his rightful rest, but Robin said to hurry back, so I was not wasting any more time.

As soon as I peeked my head past the edge of the door, I stopped. Next to no light filtered in through the slightly ajar door, but it was enough to see Chrom sitting on the floor, back to his bed and head hung low as he slept. Sitting in front of him--almost on his lap, in fact--was a small, redheaded dark mage. She was also asleep, and their arms hung loosely around one another as they slept.

It was touching, and I suspected this would be good for the prince, but I still left the room with a flush to my face. It was a detail I planned to keep to myself for both his sake and his companion's when I informed Robin of Chrom's whereabouts.

 **Zach:**

I was halfway confident that my gift was good enough to get back on Robin's good side. Good enough to make up for my lackluster skill with words, at least.

But was a necklace the right choice? It wasn't anything special; a thin chain made of some silvery metal with a dark brown orb clasped to it. Simple, but it was somewhat cheap and the closest color to her eyes for the price, which was the sole bit of information I knew on fashion.

Wait, does that even carry over? I wondered. Was fashion the same here as it was back home? What with the time disparity, one would assume not, but… Ah, if only I'd had an eye for this sort of thing. I could have picked up on patterns and whatnot on the way here.

When the Anna plopped the accessory back in my hand, I'd realized it was too late. With her trademark grin, she'd wished me a good evening and bid me farewell. I had been hustled out of line and out of the crowded shop by tourists, all of them eager to buy one trinket or another. My chance for hindsight was upon me, and I slapped a palm to my forehead. I knew should have asked for her opinion beforehand.

After that I spent the next few hours helping Sully and the others with menial tasks to pass the time. I never did anything that required both hands, and checked my pocket to make sure the necklace was still there after every task. It would not do to lost it now, would it?

There was little for me to do after getting back, though, as the joint work of a bunch of Shepherds with nothing else to do was enough to clean the fuck out of this building. It was spotless before Sully let everyone relax, which both came as a shock and an expected result.

"I'm surprised, Sully." She plopped down on the chair next to mine and crossed her arms behind her head. "I never knew you were one to be so… thorough with cleaning." In fact, it seemed more like something she would leave to the likes of Maribelle or Sumia. Hardly her cup of tea.

"Why are you surprised?" She leaned back in her chair and balanced it on the back legs. "The Anna let us have these rooms for dirt cheap if we promised to clean them out, and I never do a half-assed job. Did you think otherwise?"

"No, no." Her tone was challenging, so I put my hands up in defense. "Of course not." Her determination was near unmatched among the Shepherds. That, combined with her ludicrous combat ability made me worry for Emile in their coming spar, whenever that would be. It was also why I would never accept a fight from her. She scared me.

"That's what I--"

The cavalier was cut off by the tolling of the bell. I counted eleven tolls and frowned. Still an hour before the ballot winner was announced. The anticipation hadn't hit me yet, but I was still excited. I'd never owned a yukata, after all, and that Anna at the Gate said she would give me a little bit of luck. If I took into account the fact that I was competing with the likes of Lissa and especially Donnel, any extra luck would be needed to even the field. Though perhaps

thinking Lissa to be "lucky" was not the most accurate, considering…

Oh well. I checked my pocket for the necklace and stood. "Is there anything you need from me before I head out?"

"Nothing I can think of," she said. "Where are you off to now?"

"The uh…" The fuck is it called? "Wherever they're announcing the ballot winner. I want to get there earlier so I'm not too far. Just in case I win."

"Have fun." She stood and pushed her chair in. "I think I'm going to head over to the nearest tavern. Been awhile since I had a good drink."

"Wait!" called a frantic voice, followed by footsteps thundering down the stairs. In seconds, Vaike barreled into the room holding a leather pouch. It looked tiny in his huge hands. "Don't leave the Teach out! He's always up to get hammered!"

Sully eyed him and crossed her arms. "You better have your own money this time." Vaike waved the leather pouch in the air. What I assumed to be coins let out a light jingle from inside. "Good. I had no intention of paying your shitty ale again."

"Hey! The Vaike was just being gracious and buying the cheapest sort so you wouldn't have to pay as much."

"You? Gracious? Your bumbling ass doesn't even know what that means!"

I sighed and slipped out the door. Their bickering would go on without end. There was a decent chance it would carry on during their time at the tavern. Knowing them, they'd be kicked out in no time.

The two of them were loud enough that I could hear them from halfway down the street. I smirked and continued on my way.

My spirits were high, which was strange, all things considered. Maybe it was the chance to actually relax after what felt like ages, or my revelation about the difficulties of placing your trust in someone. Rather, that other people found it as hard as I did, depending on the circumstances. I could also have chalked up my lightheartedness up to the steamy air having its desired effect.

I plotted out what I would say when I talked to Robin. It took a shameful length of time to decide on the right greeting, and even longer to sort out the dueling possibilities for her response. More than once I had to remind myself that Robin was not the kind of person to lash out, verbally or otherwise, if I said something rude. Despite this, my doubt lingered, so I took a moment to lean against one of the buildings and collect myself. This brief silence in my thoughts made me realize something, as well.

I was thinking too hard. Robert's earlier remark about marriage flashed through my head, and it occured to me that I was putting as much thought into this apology as I would an event as serious as a wedding.

It was an apology, plain and simple. All I had to do was say sorry and explain myself. If all went well, our friendship would be salvaged, if not stronger than ever. What was that saying? Something like, "a mended bone is stronger than one that was never broken?"

Still, I--

Lost in my thoughts, I didn't notice the door to one of the buildings open, nor did I see someone step out until it was too late.

"Oof!" "Oh!"

I was pulled from my thoughts by the impact and the feminine voice I'd only been imagining for the past few minutes. "Oh. Zach."

I would have concentrated more on the despondency in her tone when she said my name, but I was too caught off guard by having run into the tactician like this. I was woefully unprepared for the surprise, and suddenly all semblance of my ability to speak was ripped away. All I could utter was a meek, "Um, good evening."

We stood there, silent, as people began to pass by us on their way to the ballot announcement. Their chattering permeated our silence and made the situation less awkward, but I still shifted on my feet and looked away. Above the new drone of voices, I heard the door squeal shut, and then Robin cleared her throat. "Were you on your way to the ballot?" she asked.

"Actually…" No, I was looking for you. See, I wanted to apologize for the other day. I blew up at you, and-- "Yes. I was."

"Good, then," she said, forcing a smile. I mentally cursed myself for my cowardice. What was I afraid of? Reprimanding? Was this just my pride? "We can walk together."

I decided it wasn't pride, because something in me backflipped at her offer to walk together. "Sure."

That awkwardness that I'd said was lessened. Yeah, well, it turned out that walking side by side with someone made an awkward silence a thousand times worse. No amount of meaningless tourist talk flooding my ears from all directions could drown out the blaring lack of conversation, or willingness to start one, between Robin and I. On several occasions, I opened my mouth to speak because the silence was getting to me, only to shut myself up before I could begin. It made this moderately long walk stretch on forever. At least, before Robin piped up.

"Are you still mad at me?"

"No." My reply was instant. It hurt that she thought that, but I knew she had good reason. I'd been furious when I stormed out on her, madder than I'd ever been. "Not anymore. And I regret lashing out like that, I… I was just hurt, you know?"

"You had every right to be."

"I mean, I know tensions were high and those guys were being shady, but I thought we were closer than that. I thought you trusted me."

"I do trust you." Her arms were crossed under her chest when she turned to face me. It was brief, but our eyes met and the solemnity that corrupted hers reminded me of my purpose for talking to her. "I was just so on edge and…" she trailed off and slowed to a stop. "Sorry, can we go somewhere more private for a second?"

She stepped off to the side, into a narrow alley between two houses. It was dingy, and wide enough for maybe one more person, if even. It was dark, but there was enough light from outside for me to tell she was facing away from me. Her cloak was cast in shadows, yet something made the eyes on the sleeves shine darker.

It took a moment for her to gather her thoughts; I was hesitant to speak in case I cut her off. When she was ready, she let out a deep breath and turned around.

"I know it doesnt justify my accusations, but it hurt, Zach." She didn't look at me, but rather the sort between her shifting feet. "When I heard that you were using me, it hurt more than you know. I didn't want to believe it, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made, but…" Her eyes lifted and met mine. The unnatural light made them shine in two different colours, but I saw in them the same pain I had that last night in the desert. "I should have known better. You've been one of the Shepherds just as long as I have, and have been no less than a friend since we met. So I'm sorry. Deeply, and truly, sorry. More sorry than I can express."

"I'm sorry, too," I said after a pause. "I… I know how hard it is to trust someone like this. The closer they are, the harder it is to get over their betrayal. I know that feeling pretty well. And even though your distrust was misplaced--"

Was it though? the low, husky voice of a woman asked. It was a whisper, but loud enough to snuff out my train of thought. It was vivid enough that I felt her warm, wet breath on my ear, and I had to admit that the accent was kind of sexy, but it sent a chill down my spine. Was it really misplaced? You're hiding something, aren't you?

I tried to shake the thought away, but I knew it was at least half right. I was hiding something. Something pretty big.

Robin was watching me, brow furrowed as my open-ended sentence hung in the air between us, unfinished. I cleared my throats and continued, though her confused expression didnt fade. "I can't help but feel like I was at fault, too. You had every right to be suspicious, and I knew that, but I was too upset to really… see it." I cleared my throat again and reached into my pocket. "Which is why I bought you this."

I pulled the necklace out, silver chain wrapped around my hand so the chocolate-coloured sphere at the base dangled loosely into view.

"What?" The sight of the gift shocked the confusion off her face. A look of disbelief and a dropped jaw took its place. "Why?"

"It's not much." I shrugged. "Pretty simple, and it didn't cost that much, if I'm being honest."

You aren't being honest. Tell her what you're hiding. I did my best to tune out the voice, but that hot, wet breath in my ear was impossible to ignore. It was like whoever was talking was right behind me.

"But why?" Robin's voice was higher, unsteady and unsure. "You didn't need to get me anything, I'm the one at fault."

Tell her what you're hiding.

"Just take it," I said. I was already out of my element, and giving gifts was… weird to me. I just wanted to get this over with so we could go to the ballot and be happy.

Tell her what you're hiding.

I cast a quick glance over my shoulder, but no one was there. Ugh, it was just the humid air. We were at a hot spring, after all, and lots of people were talking.

"Zach, why did you buy this?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "I just thought…" I frowned and looked away, lost. "I don't know. I don't know. I wanted to apologize, but I guess I didn't think that would be enough, so I bought you a necklace."

What aren't you telling her?

"What do you have to apologize for?" she asked. "Zach, you did nothing wrong. I can't accept that you bought this for something so silly."

"Can't it just be a nice gesture?" I asked. I put my weight against the wall and stare at the ground. "There doesnt have to be any meaning, why are you reading into this so much?"

What aren't you telling her?

I looked down the alley, then back to the open street. Nothing. No one was anywhere near me, and my back was to the wall. Who the fuck was whispering in my ear?

"Because your breathing is rapid and unsteady," Robin said, her tone serious as she stepped up to me. "Because your eyes are wild and unfocused."

What aren't you telling us?

My head snapped to the side before the voice was finished, toward the entrance of the alley. No one, again. Just a crowd milling by. Robin put one hand on my good shoulder, and the other on my cheek to make me face her. "And because you keep looking around like someone is sneaking up on us. Whatever your reason for buying this is, it has to be serious to you. If you don't want to tell me, then say so and I'll stop prying, but I want to know why you bought me this necklace."

I held her gaze for an immeasurable length of time, their different colours gleaming in the purple tinted moonlight. "I bought it…" My words caught like a lump in my throat.

Why did I buy it? Because I was sorry, right? I felt bad for lashing out at her, so I bought the necklace to level out with her and get on her good side.

No. No, that wasn't it. I felt bad about yelling, but not bad enough to buy her a pendant. That's not why I was sorry.

What aren't you telling us?

I was sorry because I was lying, to Robin and everyone else. And now it was eating at me. After all we've we've been through, I needed to tell her. We'd nearly died together. She'd helped me through so much. She deserved to know. What reason did I have to keep it secret anymore?

"I bought it because I haven't been completely honest with you." I breathed in, out, slowly, and continued. "I've been keeping it from all of you, but after all we've been through, I… I need to tell you."

I was scared to tell her. I regretted hiding it now, as my anticipation of her reply stirred up my gut. I watched her lips, studied them, as she said, "What aren't you telling me?"

"I'm not from Valm." It was like a weight being lifted, and I could breathe easy again. I hated lying. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back as I told her the truth. "I'm not from Ylisse, either. Or Plegia. I'm not even--" I froze. My eyes shot open, wide, as her words sunk in. "What did you just say?"

"What aren't you telling me, _tesoro_?"

The breathing was no longer in my ear. It was right on my fucking face, and looking up at me? With a wide grin and black streak through her silver hair? It was not Robin. It was _not_ Robin!

"Get the fuck away from me!" I shouted. I shoved her away, but she kept smiling. She was… where was Robin? She was right here! Where did...what was...how… Dawn.

"What is the matter, Zach?" She put on a serious face, a mask of fake concern as she took one step closer and hid her accent. If I looked close… I thought I could see Robin in her. Then that grin stretched across her face and she was unmistakably not Robin. "Why did you shove me away?"

"I knew I saw you earlier!" I pressed myself tight to the wall. "How did you…"

Did she follow us? There was no way, someone would have noticed. Gaius or Virion or Frederick. Someone.

"What's wrong?" Her sickly sweet voice and that disgusting accent echoed in my fucking mind--AARRGH

"Fuck!" Pain shot through my head, like a fucking hammer just _pounding_. I felt like I was going to break!

All those times I saw Dawn's hair change colours. It wasn't the trick of the light. I wasn't imagining it, she was right here! My nightmares, the hallucinations? Was I hallucinating then? Now? No! This fucking bitch--"NNNNNGGhhhhhaaaaaah! Get out of my head!"

I pushed at her and jammed my casted up arm under her chin, pressed her right against her throat. My good hand snagged a handful of her hair--hair that was so much like Robin's--and held her against the wall opposite me. "You aren't going anywhere!" I growled. "No running, no motherfucking warp powder, none of it! You're not leaving here alive, bitch."

With my arm against her throat, she couldn't have been able to breath--I made sure to push extra hard, just in case, and the way her hands grabbed and pulled at my arm was an extra assurance.

"How did you follow us? How are you here?"

She smiled up at me. I pressed harder, lifting her up to be level with me, at the self-gratified look in her eyes. "Stop fucking smiling."

If anything, her grin widened. I wanted to knock those perfect fucking teeth out, to rip this hair out for looking so much like Robin's, to carve out that motherfucking mark on her chest for being the same damn pattern as Robin's brand. She was a like a defilement to the things that made Robin look so beautiful.

"Where's Robin?" I barked, inches from her face. "Where is she? She was right here! What did you do? Was that you earlier? Did you make me think Krystal was you? Were you trying to trick me into attacking her? Was that what that was? You--NNNNGGAAH,Gods, you bitch, what are you doing to my ffffffFFUCKING HEAD!"

I pushed harder. She stopped smiling. Her eyes went wide, and I could see the fear in them. Her breaths came short and fast before she choked out a, "Please...stop…"

It was faint, but it struck the wrong nerve. I pressed again, and stared into her eyes as tears stung my own. "Why are you doing this to me?" I asked, my voice breaking midway through. "Why are you targeting me? Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Zach…"

"DON'T SAY MY FUCKING NAME!" I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn't want to hear it in her voice. I didn't want to hear her voice at all. Ever again.

"Za…"

"SHUT--" I paused. That wasn't Dawn's voice. I opened my eyes to see her blue and green eyes flash a bright red before I tasted electricity.

Before I could register what happened, I was thrown back into the wall at my back with a crack of thunder. My ears were ringing, but I could hear the ragged coughing from in front of me. She was free!

I stumbled to my feet and clumsily searched for the sword at my side. I had to kill her now, before she could get away!

As my blurred vision faded, however, I did not see Dawn. On the ground, coughing and fighting to breathe was Robin. No black streak through her hair, the familiar dark cloak with the hood drawn up.

"Robin?" I whispered. She was alright! "Oh thank the Gods, you're alive!" I was so worried Dawn had done something to her. hurried over and dropped to the ground beside her. I put my hand on her shoulder, half-convinced she was fake. I hoped otherwise but Dawn would do something like--

Robin's arm flew up and smacked my hand away. A small magic circle danced around her wrist, and I was sent sliding away from her, my back slamming into the wall again. But I didn't even feel it. I was too distracted by the deep red mark I'd seen marring Robin's throat and the tears streaming down her face.

"Robin. Did she hurt you?" Not only me, but Robin, too? Gods, when would she stop? Who else would she hurt? "I'll kill her."

I started to push myself to my feet, but another gust of magic wind pushed me back to the ground. "Robin, wha--"

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Glaring at me with one hand outstretched like a weapon, ready to push me back down, and the other gingerly touching the bruising around her throat. Her knees were curled tight against her chest, her eyes tear-filled and… red.

"Wait…" No, no, no, no, no, no, nononononono…. "Did I…"

She was scared of me? Her eyes… red, red when she pushed me back, red like the mark against her throat, the mark I… I did that?

"Robin?"

"Stay…" Her voice was raspy. "Stay back."

I did that? That meant… it wasn't Dawn I was hurting, was it? No, it had to be Dawn, I couldn't hurt… I couldn't hurt Robin like that! "Oh gods. Oh gods. Oh my fuckin gods, Robin, I--"

My eyes burned with tears.

"Jesus Christ, what the fuck did I do?"

I cradled my head in my arms, taking tight fistfuls of my hair. What did I do? What did I DO? Robin was my closest friend here and I… I almost fucking killed her! I was losing my goddamn mind! Fucking "NNNNGGGGH" DAWN. What did I do to Robin? I'm a fucking psycho.

"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'm so, so fucking sorry, Robin, god… I didn't… I didn't mean to hurt you, I never wanted to hurt you! I didn't know! I thought--oh, gods.

"What the fuck is wrong with me?"

 **AN: So, it's uh, it's been awhile… hasn't it? There is really no good reason for this to be as late as it is. I can only blame myself for my own laziness and negligence. You'll have to escuse any typing errors or places where fhere should be italics or bold. Due to technical... issues... this chapter was typed on my phone, and... yeah, I suppose that's all I need to say on that.**

 **That said, I hope you all still enjoyed this extra thicc chapter, and that the length makes up for its tardiness. Also, whatever I said about this being a more lighthearted chapter got thrown to the wind, as you can tell. Seems I just can't leave well enough alone. Don't expect it to get much happier in the coming chapters, either.**

 **DYLAN WILL GET HIS SPOTLIGHT, I PROMISE!**

 **One more thing before the OC list: During the last week of July, I attended a writing program down in Pennsylvania at the Susquehanna University (did I mention getting accepted into that? I don't remember). Honestly, it was a blast. Had the time of my life, made some new friends, and learned quite a bit. Hopefully it shows, because I intend to output higher quality chapters than ever before, and also much more frequently than this one.**

 **Krystal: Angel of Darkness and Light**

 **Dylan: Tumerboy12**

 **Emile: ZeXal2828**

 **Robert: Stormrider57**

 **Dawn: ZaXal2828**

 **Unknown(previously ???)** **: The Fell Dragonite**

 **Then Zach, of course, belongs to me.**

 **Anyway, sorry again for this being so late. Read, review, and rant to me about how upsetting it is, if you want. I appreciate all of the feedback I get.** **All of the Oats have left the building.**


	26. Chapter 25: The Worst Mistake

**Hey! Quick thing before I forget: if any of you play Fire Emblem Heroes, add me! My friend code is 0843977406 and my name is, of course, Oats. Got that papa Zelg, n'am sayin'?**

 **Also, I'm going to try something different for this chapter. I am not going to put POV titles. If it works out and isn't too difficult for you guys, then it's gonna stay. But if you guys are getting confused by it or its it's too unclear, let me know and we'll go back to the old ways.**

 **Anyway, no more wasting time. Let's get into the chapter.**

 **Fire Emblem and its characters belong to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.**

I sat down beside Cordy with a groan and a wince. She was wary, hands out in case I fell and face awash with worry. I had to sigh. The bench was less than comfortable, sure, and lacking a backrest or support of any kind, but I wasn't going to get hurt or break any bones because of it. "You don't need to fuss over me." Even though I was pretty beat up, I could still take care of myself.

"Could we have your attention, please?" Anna's voice pulled our eyes over to the hastily constructed stage. She stood between two poles, a banner of festively designed paper lanterns stretching over her head. Behind her, a set of sliding doors hid several shadowy figures. "We are going to announce the ballot winners soon. But first, a bit of entertainment!"

"Calliope told me to keep close watch over you and make sure you don't do anything reckless," the pegasus knight muttered as the doors behind Anna slid apart and four dancers stepped out with a flourish of music from unseen musicians. "You can't blame me if I take her command to heart."

Two of the dancers were women, one of which had green hair with a flowery pin in it, and the other had silver hair. The former had one of those oriental hand fans matching the colour of her hair and an orange kimono with a green scarf around her hips.

The silver haired girl wore a dark red kimono patterned with white butterflies, and where a golden band tied her kimono shut, a big blue ribbon was tied to the back in a similar fashion to the green haired girl's scarf. She held a golden bell-stick, a multicoloured streamer flowing from a ring at the base of the handle. It flowed around her as she danced, and the small orange bird that had been on her shoulder when she walked out would chase after it.

"You really worried me, you know."

"Yeah, you've said that a hundred times already." I winced at my own brusqueness, and looked over to her. I expected her to bear a similar look of hurt, but her expression was stern. The light from the lanterns cast her face in a slight orange glow, and sunk each hollow into shadow when she looked to the ground with a sigh. "Sorry."

The two male dancers also wore kimonos. One was blond, with a black and wine-red kimono and a dragon-like mask on the side of his face. Like the silver haired girl, he had a ribbon tied behind his back, albeit thinner and a red to match his kimono. In his hand was a matching fan, though it was round in oppose to the half-moon shape of the green haired girl's.

The other guy had reddish brown hair longer than either of the girls', but his kimono was more of a contrasting cream colour, with a brighter red coat over his shoulders. He had a hand fan like the green haired girl, coloured pitch black on the outside, but patterned on the inside like the rising sun. Out of all four, he seemed the most comfortable in his clothes.

"No," Cordy said. "You're right. I have said it many times, but only to express how true it is. I thought you were gone. I thought that someone else had died fighting alongside me. That they had died fighting for me."

"I wasn't-"

"Don't lie. You think I didn't notice how you only chose to stay after I did? Or how you glared at me when I volunteered? I know you stayed back to protect me, you even said so yourself."

"Cordy…"

The dancers split into opposing pairs, with the blond guy and the green haired girl facing the silver haired girl and brown haired guy with their props raised like weapons.

Her head dropped down, as if she was contemplating something. "Remember that day in the canyon? After the fighting was over you pledged to watch over me. Why can I not return the favor?"

"It's not like that," I said, balling up one of my fists, "I just feel so… helpless, like I know what I need to do, but can't fucking do it." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Shit. I'm sorry, I really am. But I feel like if I don't do this on my own, how am I gonna get better? I'm supposed to be the one to protect you and our friends Cordy, and this fucking recovery is getting in the way of that."

"I know. Believe me, I know just what you mean." She lifted her hand, but hesitated and lowered it back to her lap. "I'm the same way. I want to protect everyone, too. Especially those I care about."

Without looking, I knew her eyes were on me. I had to meet them, and saw the softness that filled where I was used to seeing fiery determination. "And I care about you, Robert. Very much. So please, let me help. Let me protect you in return for the times you've protected me."

"Look, this fight is as much mental as physical, but I've dealt with worse. This is nothing; I can shoulder this alone." I caught myself before my voice rose too high. Last thing we needed was to disrupt the performance ahead of us. "You don't need to waste your time on me when it could be spent elsewhere, and on something or someone more important."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Robert, why did you join the Shepherds?"

I paused, completely caught off guard. I was aware now of the glow of fire from the stage and the awed "ooh's" of the onlookers, but it all fell away as I shook my head. "What?"

"I know you are a mercenary, and that Chrom pays you separately from the rest of us. But you don't talk or speak of money frequently, as most mercenaries do. You aren't driven by it. I know something else brought you to us, so what was it?"

"I… I…" Now I was really stuck between a rock and a hard place. What was I supposed to tell her? 'Oh hey I'm from another world and your plight is a form of entertainment.' That'd only alienate her further; I had to make sure to keep that close to the vest, at least for now.

I took a deep breath and averted my eyes. "Ever since I was little, I've always stood up for those who were being oppressed or bullied, even if I was also bullied for it. When I arrived in Ylisse, and heard of the Shepherds, I knew what I had to do. To be honest, I was never a mercenary before working here. But if I have the opportunity to help, then I will devote my body and soul to it." I looked back to her, those fiery red eyes focused on me as I answered. "What about you? Why be interested in the Pegasus Knights?"

"Same as you," she said. "I joined the Knights so I could protect those in danger. Be it from bandits, invaders, or the like, I could reach them and keep them from harm. And I'm not alone in that."

She squeezed my shoulder. Her tone was not as light as before, but serious and direct. "All of us in the Shepherds feel the same. We all want to fight for others, to protect them, to give them the safety and peace all people deserve. It is our job to meddle if it is for the betterment of whoever we're dealing with. If you see me looking over you as fussing, then so be it. This is how I will meddle in your issues, because it is what I want to do. It is my duty as a Shepherd and a friend to you, and it is my pleasure to do it."

I beamed at her. "That's the first time you've really called me a friend, isn't it? I suppose that's as far as I can hope to get when you've got your sight on the captain, eh?" I smirked and gave her a wink. Playing this card would not be the brightest idea, but I needed to give her an idea of what she was getting into if she was going to look out for me.

She blinked, then sighed and looked away. "Gods, you have to ruin every moment, don't you?"

Her arms were crossed as she turned her attention to the stage. Before I joined her, I had one more thing to say.

"Hey." I clapped my hand to her shoulder and chuckled. "Thanks, Cordy. It may not seem like I appreciate it, but it's always good to have a friend there for you." I sniffed, thinking about some of my friends back home, and what they might be thinking right now. "I won't try to give you a hard time, I promise. And thanks I guess for being the overprotective, yet caring woman you are." I pulled her into a slight hug, and sniffed again.

"Sorry, you shouldn't have to see that." I pulled away and wiped my tears.

She shook her head. "It's fine. I've done my fair share of crying lately, it's only fair that you get yours."

I opened my mouth, but was cut off with a bright flash and a burst of heat. Cordy and I both turned our attention to the stage, where the other three dancers were posed around the silver haired girl, their fans pointed toward her while she had her bell-stick pointed skyward. Fire spewed out from its many bells in a fan-like shape as her bird circled down and landed on her shoulder.

The fire continued for a time, and I was amazed at its unparalleled beauty before the flames shot higher and exploded in a loud crack, then several more as what appeared to be fireworks fire out from the top of the bell-stick. The girl opened her eyes and smiled brightly. Her bird fluttered up and hovered near her face. She reached a hand up to it and laughed, but it was drowned out by the cheering that erupted from the crowd.

All the dancers stood up and bowed. There was talking between them as the crowd cheered on, and the two girls blushed a bit.

"That was beautiful." Cordy smiled hands clasped in front of her. "Shame we missed the rest of the dance, I'm sure it was just as beautiful."

"I'm sure you're right." My voice was low. Not on purpose, but I was distracted. Everyone up there looked familiar. Not like someone I knew personally, but like I'd seen them before. The girls in particular. But where? I kept my eye on the two of them, and noticed the silver haired girl look my way. Her eyes were gold.

"Robert?"

"Huh?" I blinked and looked back to Cordy. She was giving me a strange look. "What do you need?"

"I was talking but you weren't listening." She furrowed her brow and frowned. "You were just staring up at the stage. Is something wrong?"

I looked back at the stage, but all four dancers were already disappearing behind the doors.

"No, I'm fine, just eh… mesmerized is all." There was something odd. Who did I remember that has silver hair and an orange bird? Nobody from Awakening, that's for sure.

"Can we get another round of applause for our wonderful performance?" Anna strolled onto the stage as her words fanned the flames of the crowd's excitement. I clapped and cheered, too, even if I'd only seen the last bit.

"It sounds like you all enjoyed their show as much as I did, which is why I'm happy to announce that they'll be here all week! Not only that, but they'll be joined by four other performers who are all just as talented, and whom some of you may recognize."

Applause ripped through the crowd again, and I wondered what was getting them so hyped for these dances. Was it some special liquor invigorating them? Knowing Anna, probably.

"But now," she said, "something you've been waiting for all day…" Hidden somewhere, a timpani was making, slow, low notes and building up. Anna's eyes scanned over the crowd, a mischievous smile on her face before her hands shot up and she shouted, "That's right! It's time for the banner announcement!"

* * *

The door slammed open downstairs, loud enough to scare me awake. The medicine I'd been mixing together when I dozed off tumbled to the floor as I stood and made for the stairs. I snagged my Mend staff as I passed it. It was a poor weapon if this _was_ a break in, but it was better than nothing, and if it wasn't a break in… well, I would need it anyway. It was dark downstairs.

I let loose a bit of magic, the orb at the end glowing in response. The light was faint, but enough to see the stairs under my feet. It was also enough to reflect off of a head of snowy-white hair. "Lady Robin?"

She reached out for my staff, or the light, with a shaking hand. My guess was confirmed when I saw the edge of her sleeve before she muttered a weak, "help…"

I caught her as she fell-the scrapes and cuts on her hands told me this wasn't the first-and threw her arm over my shoulder. As I half-carried her over to a chair, I noticed her incredibly labored breathing, but her breathes were shallow and rapid.

I set her down, I leaned her against the table. I would grab a lantern or something in a minute, but I wanted to give her a good once over as soon as possible.

I let the staff go brighter and hovered it over her face first. Something was restricting her breathing. Her breath came as rasps, her chest puffing out as fought to breathe. Nothing on her face, though, aside from what seemed to be dried tears and a few minor scrapes marring her ashen skin.

I masked my frown like Mister Libra taught me and moved lower. What was restricting her breathing?

My eyes widened for a split second before I brightened my staff further to get a better look. The angry purple bruise wrapping around the front of her throat stood out even more. Naga, what happened?

"I need you to tell me what happened," I said, "but don't speak." It could cause even more damage. But I couldn't skip straight to healing for the same reason. "Blink once if the answer is yes, and twice if it's no. Okay?" She blinked once. "Good. Now, what happened?" The least I could do was hypothesize, but there were several ways for a bruise to appear. But the way it was shaped lead me to believe… "Did someone hurt you?"

One blink. Right, that made sense. It made things simpler, as well. At least for now.

"Okay, I'm going to heal you as best I can right now, then we'll go to the back room." She blinked, but I couldn't tell if it was in response or to rid the tears welling in her eyes. "Now this is going to itch horribly, but do _not_ scratch it. Blink twice when you're ready."

She did, and I channelled most of my magic into the staff. It emanated a green aura and set to healing her. She tensed up, and I could see her forcing her hands fast to her sides to keep from scratching at her throat, which was sure to be screaming to be itched. Her tears spilled over and a choked sound escaped her. I failed to keep myself from wincing.

After hour-long seconds, I took a chance to look away from her bruised neck and noticed her eyes were squeezed shut, teeth gritted past drawn back lips, but her breathing was better. It was slight, but slight improvement was better than none, and I prayed that she would be well enough to move to the proper infirmary. This was a temporary fix, but I couldn't do any more in here.

"We're going to move now, okay?" I said, then bit my tongue. I said it like she was a child, with a slow, easy tone.

I tucked my arm under her shoulder and eased her to her feet. As soon as she was stood, her legs wobbled. I almost lost her there, but managed to slip underneath and keep her upright. I was not strong enough to keep her standing otherwise.

Her feet dragged with each step toward the door. The process was slow. By the time I reached the door, her breathing was raspy once more. I struggled to free a hand to open the door. I cursed myself mentally for being so foolish. If only I had taken the moment to open the door before dragging her over here, I would have saved this time! If only Mister Libra was here… I wanted to whine. He would have thought ahead this far and more, and probably would have healed Robin enough to get her into the room before her breathing worsened again, but I wasn't good enough, wasn't strong enough yet to do either, so now I was stuck here, wasting precious seconds trying to open a darn door while Robin was—No! No, I had to focus! Now was not the time to break down, I had to help Robin while I had the time.

I swallowed and pushed it all to the back of my mind as my hand found purchase on the doorknob. I twisted and shoved it open. It swung back into the empty darkness of the infirmary, and I followed when it slammed against the wall behind it.

I felt my way into the room with my foot, and slid myself along the wall. The closes bed was halfway to the corner, and—Oh!

My foot hit the bedpost, and I spun around to sit Robin down. As soon as she was laid down, I set my healing to her neck again.

I took a deep breath. Now that I had the chance, I needed to gauge the entirety of the situation as well as plan my next steps. It didn't do either of us any good if I was flustered, and continuing without knowing what to do would waste time. With that in mind, I had to hurry. I only had so much magic to stall with.

I needed to mix something together, a salve for her throat. That was first and foremost priority. All of my healing supplies were in the cabinet in the front room. After that, something to put her to sleep. She needed rest, and I needed her to be still while I worked on her. Next… I would need to get Mister Libra. I would do all I could, but I didn't know enough about this sort of thing for a full treatment. Robin needed someone more experienced. The most I could do was ease her pain until then.

Her breathing was steady now, which was good. My magic was waning, and with it the light from my staff. I lowered my staff—it was reassuring that her breath didn't hitch—and hurried out of the room.

I swung open the cabinet door and swiped all of the ingredients I needed for both tinctures. I was without the use of a Recover or sleep staff, so I had to make do. Mister Libra and the others at the church taught me a fair share about mixing potion and preparing salves, however, so I was able to whip together what I needed in a short time. _Running low on Pure Water_ , I noted as I hurried back to Robin.

When I knelt down beside her cot, I'd already set down the tincture and was scooping some of the salve onto my fingertips. I pulled her cloak off with my free hand, and the tactician tensed as soon as I applied the salve, be it from pain or the icy chill of the paste. She let out a choked cry and I hushed her with a gentle whisper. "It will make the pain lessen. I promise."

"Ca—"

"No, no," I murmured. "Don't talked now." I finished applying the salve. It's pale green stood out against her pale face, but it covered the blotchy red bruising. "Give it time to sink in and soothe."

I grabbed the pale pink tincture and swirled it once, twice to make sure it was properly mixed. "First, though, I need you to drink this." She eyed the bottle as I raised her head and put it to her lips. She winced as she swallowed it down, but the salve made it bearable. In half a minute, her eyes drooped closed and her breathing steadied as much as it could.

I waited to leave until I could be sure she would remain stable. This was as much as I could do. Mister Libra would need to handle it from here.

* * *

As I looked over the battlefield before me from atop a hill, something struck me as overtly wrong.

On my orders, the Feroxi defensive line was quashed and the remainder of their forces was pushed back. What few surviving pockets of soldiers that pushed through our own lines were going to be drowned out in minutes by the overwhelming amount of dark mages and knights circled around them. It must have been a demoralizing defeat, much like each of the others in the last four days. It was a wonder they were still fighting at all, what with the Exalt's fall and her siblings' disappearance.

I considered the possibility that news of the Exalt's attempted sacrifice had not reached them, but dismissed it. News like that spread far and fast. The sole reason it hadn't demoralized my own men was due to my personal intervention. It was a matter of time until that was out of my control, but I wanted to seize total victory before that happened. A blow like that would cost us the war, after all.

Still, despite their heavy losses, my foes were Feroxi, and that meant no surrender. They would hold their line as best they could until they were pushed back to their own border. I gave it a rough estimate of half a week until then.

That was where the problems lied. We had no chance of breaking through the Longfort. Even with diminished numbers and no morale whatsoever, that wall was massive. Breaking through the Plegia side would be a chore and a half, if it was at all possible, and marching over to the smaller Ylissean side would give them enough time to regroup and prepare a proper defensive. It was an impasse that I did not want to reach. The only option I could think of was a treaty to end the war, but that brought problems of its own.

With the Prince and his merry band of fighters having disappeared off the map, Gangrel was more off-kilter than I'd ever seen. Until they reappeared and their heads ended up at the foot of his throne, I had little faith he would accept any sort of end to this war, even if it bled both us, Ferox, and our new territory in Ylisse dry.

I was pulled from my thoughts as a wyvern made its way over. Curiously, it was not coming from the battlefield, rather from the South. I masked the sullen frown on my face and stuffed my hands in the pockets of my new cloak, curtesy of his highness for my victory north of the Midmire.

"Captain." The rider hopped off his mount as soon as it landed. He gave a swift salute. "I bring a missive from the king."

I forced myself not to frown, not that it mattered when I was facing away from him. "What is it?" I was sure that is was a call for more of my troops to act as search parties for the Yllisean prince, as the past few had been. I knew very well the threat that Chrom and his Shepherds posed—Validar would not keep his damned mouth shut about it but this was ridiculous. Gangrel's paranoia was getting out of hand. I was already working with a skeleton crew, and he expected me to give up more soldiers? I was half-angry enough to return to Galga myself and beat some sense into him.

"His Majesty orders your return to the capital posthaste, sir."

I froze, my eye shooting wide. He _what_? My reaction must have been obvious. The rider was hesitant, tripping over his words as he continued with a now shaking voice. "He, uh, his majesty r-refused to give any details other than that it was urgent."

"And what of my troops?" I asked through gritted teeth. "Am I meant to leave them without a commander? How are we supposed to win this war then?"

"A-actually, sir, his majesty sent Lady Aversa out to take your place. I doubt she left the palace long after I did, sir."

 _That son of a bitch!_ He sent _Aversa_ to lead my troops? That witch had no idea the complications of war. She was going to lead my soldiers to Plegia and run them straight into the ground. Ah, the damned fool! Not only that, but Dawn was down there still. Was I supposed to believe Aversa would just let her be? As far as I knew, the witch would execute Dawn herself and say a Feroxi assassin snuck through the line. _Feroxi Assassin_. I could have scoffed. It was preposterous, but no one would question it if it came from the witch's mouth.

"What's your name?" I growled. In my pockets, my hands were clenched in white-knuckled fists.

"Uh, um, R-Reever, sir."

"Reever? Well, Reever, I have an order of my own for you." I whirled around and stalked up until I was inches from him. His mount let out a protective snarl but I silenced it with a glare. I was not afraid to cut down an overgrown lizard to get my point across. "Until I return, the silver-haired girl named Dawn is to be watched over by no less than three guards at all times. All times. Tell her and anyone else that protests that there are my orders and that they cannot and will not be disobeyed. If I find out that something happens to her while I am gone, I am going to first find you, kill you, your dragon, then whoever else was involved. Do not forget this."

I took a pinch of warp powder from the pouch tied to my belt and threw it to the ground. Reever was a pitiful sight as I warped back to Galga, but it got my message through. It better have.

My plans were already disrupted by the Shepherds' disappearance. I managed to scrounge together the scraps and form something solid. I was not going to let Gangrel and his foolishness tear this one down as well.

* * *

Mister Libra did not hesitate to follow me. Perhaps it was the urgency on my face, but the words, "I need your help," barely escaped my lips before he nodded and said to lead the way. We weaved through the crowd as the dancers finished their performance. I was grateful that he did not ask what the problem was until we were out in the clear, empty street.

"What is the injury?" he asked without slowing his stride.

"Damage to the throat. Deep red bruising and afflicted breathing." I felt myself steady, both my breathing and my mind. I spoke with informative clarity. "Strangulation, most likely."

"'Most likely?'"

"She said someone attacked her, and the bruising suggests the same." It was strange how easily I fell into the role of assistant, but it was not a role I minded. I was not ready to be chief healer, yet. I didn't know enough, and that was far too much responsibility. I could not handle it. "I soothed her with a Heal and rubbed a salve of pure water, ground up mana herbs and nethergranate over the affected area."

"Is she asleep?"

"Yes. I mixed up pure water, magic dust and Plegian thorn-bee honey and gave it to her."

He opened the door to the infirmary and went straight to the back room. I took the time to grab and light a lantern before following him in. The glow from his Mend staff ceased when he saw the flame. I stood by his side as he looked our tactician over. After a minute or two, he sighed. "Well?"

"It's hard to tell," Mister Libra said, "but I do not think she was held too long. There will certainly be long-term damage, but most of it will not be too serious. For that we should be thankful."

I frowned, but didn't get time to think about complaining.

"Did she say who attacked her by chance?" Mister Libra asked.

"No." The same question had been lingered in the back of my mind ever since I saw the bruise. I never had the chance to ask, however. Somewhat hard to do so when I was so focused on keeping her breathing. "Should we ask her when she wakes up?"

"That would not be wise." He stood and stretched his back. "That lasting damage that I mentioned is not limited to her body. Being attacked and wounded like this… I imagine her soul is hurting as well.

"I see." I should have expected as much. I didn't know what happened, nor did I want to. It must have been terrible. If it was anywhere near as bad as I envisioned, I would have been horrified. "Is… what can we do? For now, I mean?"

"For now…" he trailed off and looked down at the prostrate tactician. "Our staves will not be able to do much anymore. What we need to focus on is keeping her breathing and ensuring that her throat heals. We can monitor her and give her soothing remedies during that time if we need to, but she needs rest."

I nodded. We would be watching her for quite some time, so I grabbed two chairs from the front room. I was about to sit down when I remembered the medicine I'd left half-finished upstairs. "I'll get started on those remedies." Mister Libra agreed.

I trudged up the stairs with leaden legs. Now that the panic and excitement of Lady Robin's appearance had deadened, the fatigue I'd suffered in the past few days of infirmary duty weighed on me like iron chains lashed to my wrists and ankles. It felt like it took me an eternity to gather up my supplies and return to Mister Libra's side.

His hands were clasped in his lap like in prayer, and his eyes were shut so that I thought he was asleep. I made as little noise as possible as I sat down and set the ingredients to the side. I set to mixing and mashing together what I thought would help Lady Robin. I lost track of time as my mind began to wander, and my mixing motions became autonomous.

It was a shameful thought, but I was thankful for this lull. Ever since I'd joined the Shepherds—before I left Ylisse, even—I hadn't had the chance to relax or think. With Robert and Dylan injured, I had been unable to enjoy the Outrealm at all. The hotsprings were foreign to me, and with Lady Robin incapacitated, it seemed as though I wouldn't get the chance to enjoy them. But that was the least of my worries. Lady Robin was _attacked_. Someone attacked her, and they were roaming free. Not a single person knew who it was or what they had done, or that they were a serious threat. Lady Robin was the sole witness, yet Mister Libra didn't want to ask her about it? Oh, but I understood. Being attacked the way she must have been… oh, I couldn't imagine.

* * *

I managed to pull away from the crowd when Nowi started clapping for the performers. Much to my displeasure, the tick latched on to my arm and followed me to where the drinks were set up, spewing complaints the entire time.

"No, go back," she moaned, digging her heels into the dirt and pulling on my wrist. I was mid-stride, however, and had no intention of slowing, so I dragged her forward like the child she was being. "Anna was just about to announce the winner of the balloooooot."

"Then you can go back and listen. I really don't care."

She huffed and tugged harder. "But what if you win? Don't you wanna hear so you can grab your prize?"

"No. I could not care less." I picked up one of the bottles that were sitting out and uncorked it. Ale, Mead, or whatever. It made no difference to me what was inside as long as it could distract me from the incessant dragon that clung to me ever since Robert's treacherous ass told her where I was.

"Okay, but what if I win? I wanna be there!"

"And I don't. Go ahead if you want, but I do not care." Another drink.

"But you'll run away again if I leave," she whined, "and I don't wanna have to chase you down. So come oooooonnnn." With one last pull, almost strong enough to move me, she resigned with a sigh. Her arms crossed and she stared up at me with a pout, her cheeks puffed up for emphasis.

"Don't pout at me."

"Then come back with me so we can hear Anna."

"No."

I heard a short groan before her fist hit my thigh. I looked down to see her raining featherlight blows against me leg. _She hits like a child_ , I mused, which came as no surprise. I did my best to ignore her and swept my eyes over the remaining bottles. This one wasn't going to last me all night, and I was going to need it if—"Ow, you little b—shit!"

My thoughts were cut off as I felt two razor sharp pricks on my leg. I looked down to see the manakete latched onto my leg, her mouth clamped down with her fangs embedded in my skin. She looked up at me, annoying leach that she was, and returned my glare. She bit me!

"Wh—y—hey, get—get the hell off me!"

The manakete let go and stepped back, wiping her mouth with the back of her gloved hand. "You don't taste very good," she observed.

"What the hell!" I cried, then winced at the crack in my voice. I couldn't help it, I was flustered! "You can't just bite someone like that!" I tried to keep a measure on my tone, despite my panic. Most people were distracted by Anna talking on stage, so they wouldn't notice a pink-faced birdman

"Wow, I've heard you this emotive before." Emotive? How did she even know a word like that? She giggled and slapped me on the bitemark, pressing the wettened fabric to my thigh. I shivered and was about to shout at her again before I bit my tongue, something catching my eye and pressuring me into propriety.

"Excuse me," a silver-haired girl said, walking up. In her hands was a bell-stick, coloured gold to match her shining eyes. Perched on her shoulder was a small orange bird, and it occurred to me that she was familiar. "I am surprised to see a laguz here."

"You were the girl on the stage… you know what I am?"

"Yes." She smiled and her bird chirped. I glanced down at Nowi. The manakete's mouth was ajar, her eyes flitting between the woman and I. "Everyone in Daein knows of laguz, and I am… particularly familiar with them. I know when I see one." Her thumb rubbed over the back of her right hand. "Your wings are a sure sign."

"I see."

"Though I am confused." The woman's brow furrowed. "What is a hawk doing so far from Phoenicis?"

Phoenicis? The name rang a bell, where had I heard that before? Not Earth, or Archanea for that matter. Phoenicis, Phoenicis, Phoeni—"Oh. You're from Tellius, aren't you?" That was why she mentioned Daein. I could have facepalmed.

She nodded, which further confused me. I _knew_ I recognized her, but I couldn't put a name to the face. "Yes, though…" she frowned. "You said it like it was strange. Like you aren't yourself from Tellius."

"Uh, well…"

"Wait, I'm confused," Nowi interjected, eyes squeezed shut and fingers rubbing her temples. "What's a laguz?"

I blinked. I'd forgotten the manakete was there, but for once, I was thankful. "A laguz," the silver-haired woman knelt down and smiled, "is a person who can transform into a great beast. Your friend here can transform into a large bird—a hawk, based on his wings—but there are laguz of many tribes. Some can transform into birds, cats, and even dragons."

"Dragons? Wouldn't that make them manaketes?"

"Manaketes?" The silver-haired girl paused. A puzzled look settled on her face. "I don't think I've ever heard of those."

"Manaketes are dragons that look like people," Nowi stated. I raised my eyebrows at the gross oversimplification, but let her continue. I wanted to see where she was going with this. It was a good opportunity to refresh myself on how much she knew. "Like me!"

"I see. Is that why your ears are pointed?"

"Yep! Not really what you expect when you think dragon, though, is it? Well, with this stone right here," she said, reaching into a pouch fasted around her waist before pulling out a dull green stone. It let out a subtle shine in her hand and reflected the lanterns above us. "I can turn into the big scary dragon you might imagine. You wanna see?"

"No!" I interjected and covered her stone with my hand. "No, we don't need to transform in the middle of the street. Maybe later, Nowi." That would cause a hell of a panic, and I did not want that much attention on us. We were already attention-grabbing as we were.

"Oh, right." The manakete laughed, and I sighed.

"You know quite a bit for someone so young," the silver-haired woman observed. "Nowi, was it?"

"Yeah, though I'm not as young as you think. In fact, I'm way older than you."

"Is that so?" The woman looked to me like I was the parent and Nowi was the over-imaginative child. That was a job I did not sign up for. I would have to get Robert back for this.

"She isn't joking," I said. I watched a range of expressions wash over her face. First, realization dawned, and her eyes went wide. This shock was quick to fade, and was soon replaced with a pensive look as her golden eyes shifted back to Nowi.

"If you don't mind my asking," she said, "how old are you, Nowi?"

The manakete looked to the stars and put a finger on her chin. On her other hand, she counted off on her fingers. "Umm." She looked down and counting off once more. In an unsure tone, she said, "Somewhere around 1000. I think. I sort of stopped counting after a while. Pretty old, huh?"

An unrecognizable emotion flashed in the woman's eyes before she smiled. "And you're still young and energetic. I am sure you still have a long life ahead of you."

"I met another manakete a few years ago and he was way older than I am," Nowi said, nodding. "His name was… B… Banta? Banter? Something like that. He was old enough to have wrinkles, which for a manakete takes a long, _long_ time. He wouldn't tell me how long, though, and said something about it being a 'curse to see more centuries turn than numbers you can count', but I think it would be awesome! Imagine all the friends you could make!"

"Er…" There it was. That look again, though this time more obvious than the last. It was clear enough that I was able to recognize it now. "Yes, I think that would be a great deal of fun."

"Hey, Nowi," I said. "I think Anna is going to announce the ballot winner soon, so why don't you head back and see what she says?" She opened her mouth to speak, eyebrows furrowed as she prepared to complain. I knew what she was going to say, though, and spoke accordingly. "I won't go anywhere, I promise. I just want to talk to…" I looked to the woman, realizing now that she never told us her name.

"Mi—er, my name is M…Mia." All of the pieces clicked together as soon as she cut herself off. I almost missed her fake name as I figured out why I knew her. _Of course, how could I forget? The bird should have been a dead giveaway._ A plan began to form in my head, coalescing from my whirling mess of thoughts from these past few days. It was blurry, but I saw the opportunity to make up for the mistake.

"Right. Mia." I turned back to Nowi, who had her arms crossed. "I'll only be a minute or two, I promise. Then I'll find you and we can listen to Anna together."

The manakete regarded me for several seconds. Her eyes flicked over me, then to "Mia". Whatever she saw was enough to sate her, and she set off toward the stage with a huff. When enough distance was between us for her to be out of earshot, I spoke. "You aren't human, are you?"

"I'm sorry?"

"At least, not entirely." I stood taller and crossed my arms, my eyes levelled at her in a cool, interrogative gaze. "Humans do not know the anguish of living long past their loved ones, of watching their friends grow old while they do not age. I don't think you have that luxury."

I used the "unnerving" quality of my eyes as an advantage, and "Mia" took a half-step back before correcting and straightening her posture. I'd caught her off-guard with the accusation, but she was quick to recover. "I don't think you know what you're talking about. Whatever is in that bottle is clouding your mind." She pointed to the long-forgotten bottle in my hand, which I promptly set on the table.

"Wasn't alcoholic, but that's beside the point." I dismissed the thought with a wave. "You know just as I do that bird laguz have keen eyes," I tapped my temple for emphasis, "and Hawks are no different. Nowi may not have, but I noticed the way you reacted when she spoke of her age."

"You've felt that same loss… haven't you?" I softened my tone and let my shoulders relax. Any sense of interrogation was thrown to the wind. I needed her trust if I wanted her help. "You lost someone to the passing of time, but you never aged. You've suffered like a laguz, but you don't seem like one yourself." I squinted and peered closer, putting great detail in my fake search of any traits that would indicate she was laguz. "No wings, no tail, no cat ears, and you do not strike me as a dragon. That would mean…" I let it appear as if I realized the truth, and she turned away, noticeably clutching her right hand. I hid a smirk.

"Enough," "Mia" said, her voice sharp and abrupt to cut through mine. "I thought I would come over here and make conversation with another stranger to this land, but I can see that it was a mistake." She shook her head and took a step away. "If you'll excuse me—"

"Mi—'Mia', wait." I cursed myself for almost speaking her true name, but my slip was less noticeable than hers. "I need your help."

She paused and gave a half-turn, but refused to look at me in anything aside from profile. Her bird flitted to her other shoulder and peered at me from behind her cascade of silver hair. "Please. It doesn't matter if you are beorc, laguz, or Branded. You know the pain of loss, and I know someone who has gone through a hell of one. Unless I'm mistaken, you made it out in once piece, too."

"What are you asking?"

"I need you to help him. He's our commander—and our ruler—and he and his sister have lost someone very important to them." I didn't know the disparity between time passing here and back in Ylisse. For all I knew, each day spent in here was a month back there, or vice versa. Either way, the sooner we could get back, the better, but we couldn't rush back before both blue bloods were… stabilized. "I can explain on the way, but our war isn't done yet, and we need them fighting fit before it comes to a close."

She went silent. Her expression softened and she clasped her hands together over her heart. "Loathe as I am to aid in another conflict, let alone one a world apart from my own…" Her bird twittered inches from her cheek. Her eyes drifted to it and lingered for a moment before gliding up to meet mine. "I do not believe anyone should suffer. So I will do what I can help your commander. Show me the way."

* * *

"Miss Robin!"

Mister Libra's sharp voice jolted me awake. My eyes shot open and toward his voice just in time to see him running out the door. I slipped off the chair, spilling all of the medicine I'd managed to make, before scrambling to my feet and hurrying after him. A brief glance at the bed showed me that Lady Robin was also missing, so I snagged her cloak before leaving.

I followed into the front room and found the front door open. How far were they going? Where were they going? Ugh, my head was starting to hurt. I gave chase again and swung the door shut behind me without slowing. It would have taken too much time to lace my boots up, as well, so I didn't bother to put them on. The chill of the night air hit me like a wave, forcing my skin to prickle up in an instant. I threw on Robin's cloak to abate it.

The street was vacant of all but a handful of people, none of whom were too concerned with the white-haired woman running with an effeminate priest on her heels while a short cleric in a cloak too big for her trailed barefoot on the cold stones behind them. The dark was a good cover. Everyone else was either inside or crowded around the stage set up in the middle of the massive plaza. I could hear the dull chattering coming from that direction—"You're all winners!" Anna yelled—but pushed it out of my mind in favor of focusing on the task at hand. In the night, it was their pale hair and light-colored clothing that let me keep them in sight.

Before long, though, they disappeared around a corner, and I lost them. Uncertain which alley they ducked into, I slowed my pace. I peered into each break between houses, in search of the bright shining from the shadows. I needn't have tried so hard, as a warm orange glow flared up ahead of me, emanating from one such break.

"He's still here," I heard Robin breathe. "Good."

I jogged closer and rounded the corner. Sitting there, slumped against the wall with his knees pulled tight to his chest and his head hidden behind them, was Zach. He was muttering something, but his voice was muffled, low, and fast, so I could not decipher one bit of it. My eyes held on him for a second or two more before shifting to Mister Libra and Lady Robin, the latter knelt down near the myrmidon and the former meeting my gaze. I saw a somber twinge in his expression that faded an instant later. That tactician inspected Zach and frowned further.

"Robin, what…" Even Mister Libra was at a loss.

"You can't tell anyone about this." Lady Robin's response was curt and quick. Her no-nonsense tone was matched with her serious expression as she looked up at us. "Promise me that."

"I'm afraid I don't know—"

"Give me your word!" Her near yell sounded painful. I worried it would be causing damage to her throat. "You must not tell anyone about anything tonight. Please."

Mister Libra and I glanced at each other again. This was strange. Something was very off here. Why would Lady Robin ask us to keep this secret? What was "this"? I rubbed a finger to my temple. So much had happened tonight, it was too much. My head was beginning to hurt, and I had a strange feeling it was only going to get more complicated.

"I give you my word," I said. I just wanted this to be over with. I was too drained, mentally, at least, to handle much more. I was still tired, as well, and my feet were freezing cold. I wanted to go back to bed. If that meant making a promise, so be it. That was a small price to pay. "I tell no one of anything that happened tonight."

The tactician direct her gaze to Mister Libra. "Please, Libra," she said, all force leaving her voice. What was left was a pleading, saddened voice, sounding as tired as I felt. "I'll explain right away, but you have to give me your word that you'll tell no one."

Mister Libra was stoic. He crossed his arms. I wondered what went through his head in the moments before he spoke. "Very well. But only for the sake of doing what I need to heal the two of you. I will not tell anyone of tonight so long as you help me help you."

"Of course."

Lady Robin kept true to her word. Mister Libra suggested that we return to the infirmary to get away from the cold before we spoke. Mister Libra coaxed Zach to his feet despite the myrmidon's reluctance, and led him along like he was a young, lost child. Not once did his murmuring cease. Lady Robin was insistent that we put him in a cot across the room from her when we arrived, but refused to tell us why. "Not yet." She only began once she had sat down in her own cot and we were seated beside it. "There had been some tension between us," she began. "We'd gotten into quite a fight before… before what happened in Plegia, and it was weighing on us. I'd lashed out at him due to some rumor, too, and it was misplaced. I felt guilty, and apparently he felt guilty, as well, because he bought me a necklace."

I would have found this sweet if not for the frown that sullied her face.

"But I couldn't accept it. He was acting strange. He was breathing heavily, like he was scared, and kept looking behind him like he was hearing someone or something. I asked him about it and he went quiet just… staring at me for the longest time. I asked him what was wrong, and he just blurted out that he wasn't from Valm. Or Ylisse, or Plegia." Her eyes squeezed shut and she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Then he got this weird look in his eye. He asked what I said, but I hadn't said anything."

I was too caught up in picturing the scene to immediately realize she'd stopped. I blinked at looked up to her when the pause grew palpable, and found her working her jaw up and down, struggling to get the words out. She was strained, eyes watery and shaky. _It was too soon_ , I was sure. She wasn't ready to talk about this. Mister Libra came to the same conclusion, saying, "Miss Robin, if you do not want to talk about this, you do not need to. We can wait." Long gone was the impatience that had tinged his voice in the alley. "Take your time."

"No, I'm…" She took a long, shuddery breath. "I'm fine. Just give me a moment." Another breath. "He… he shoved me away. Hard. I asked why and he backed away, like he was afraid. Like he was terrified of me, and he said he saw me earlier. Then he yelled. It was loud, someone should have heard, he screamed and held his head and fell to his knees. He said to get out of his head and he—" Her breath hitched, caught in her throat and her eyes went wide. In an instant, she collapsed into herself. One hand flew to rub at the bruises on her throat while the other pulled her knees to her chest in a position mirroring that of Zach. Tears came from her eyes in rivers.

From across the room, I could hear the myrmidon's muttering grow louder, and I understood them now. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry—" He didn't stop, didn't' slow.

Sweet Merciful Naga, this was too much. This situation was so horribly wrong.

* * *

"In order to compensate for the sorrowful inconvenience of the Risen attack," Anna said, holding a basket of ballot entries against her chest, "my family and I have come to the agreement that you're all winners!" She grabbed the basket with both hands, dumped it to the side, and swung, throwing the tiny slips of paper out over the crowd in a flood. "All of you are going to receive free yukatas! Come on over to the main building after we're finished here to get sized up and choose a design and coloring. But that's not all!"

The crowd was on the verge of erupting. Each person, myself included, was overjoyed at this announcement. I was always down for free stuff, and a yukata would be cool to have. It was hard to concentrate, however, with all of these people crowding around and rubbing against me in their fervor. My heart pounded in my chest as anxiety seized me, but I repressed it.

"To express our gratitude that you stayed through the trouble, we are giving everyone in attendance a free additional day to your stay in the Bathrealm. Thank you!" The merchant bowed, then ducked behind the curtain as my prediction came to fruition. A deafening cheer possessed the crowd as I attempted to wade through it. I had attempted to stay closer to the edge, but as more people came, I was drawn further into the middle. To my dismay, this was my only chance to escape.

As soon as I came free, I noticed a familiar woman with a head of long crimson hair harassing an equally familiar merc wrapped in bandages. The latter bore a smirk, while the woman scolded him with a lone finger prodding his chest. _I know them._ The thought calmed me, and I approached. I noticed him wince as I approached, and heard the woman sigh. "If you end up drinking stupor and hurt yourself, you'll drag me into trouble with you. Calli entrusted me to keep you well and out of harm's way, and to keep you from chasing after it. I would rather keep to my word and away from the healer's bad side."

"Jesus, Cordy, just because you have to keep me on a tight leash doesn't mean you have to strangle me with it," Robert groaned. "Didn't we just talk about this?"

"I'm not strangling you," the pegasus knight stated. "I'm keeping you as safe as I can, which is the conclusion we came to."

"I don't feel like I agreed to that."

"I'm meddling. You don't need to agree."

"Ugh, that's—"

"Hello." Both of them stopped and looked at me. I had my arms crossed and a bemused smirk joined it as they both composed themselves and returned my greeting. "You two seemed to be in the middle of an argument. Lover's quarrel?"

"No!" Cordelia blurted, her face going flush red in seconds.

Robert instead nodded, sighing. "Wifey won't let me go to the bar and get hammered with my bros."

"Robert! We are not married!"

"Why can't he go to the bar?" I asked. Was it a bar? Or a tavern?

"Because he'll be going with Gaius and Sumia." Her blush was fading, but I suspected Rob was making faces behind me, as she shot a glare his way. I ignored it.

"What's so bad about that?" I asked. "Sumia doesn't seem like the type to get into trouble."

"But Gaius is." She sighed. "He's a thief, for Naga's sake, and I think he's a bad influence. Sumia already seemed a few drinks under when we passed her on our way here, and she's never been one to drink. I worry he's corrupting her, and—"

"I think perhaps we'd best stay focused on the topic at hand," I interjected. While her concern for her friend was heartwarming, I wanted to get to the root of this issue and hopefully vanquish it. The idea of going to the bar with Robert and Gaius sounded grand, and would take my mind of off things. There was a good chance that the bar would serve sake, as well, which piqued my interest. "What problem is there? If Rob goes to the bar, why do you not just go with? Keep him in check?"

"That'll work. Just come with me," Rob said, shrugging. "What about you, Cordy?"

"I see no problem with that. No serious problem, anyway. Very well. But Robert—" she pointed an aggressive finger his way. "You are to keep drinking to a minimum. No more than a few drinks, alright? And afterward, we are heading straight back to the infirmary so you can get some rest under a watchful eye."

It was clearly not "alright". His disappointment was palpable and I understood, but he nodded regardless. He flashed a smile her way. "If it means I get to take you out, I can accept those stipulations." He laughed, and the pegasus knight sighed yet again. "What say you, Emile? You want to come with? I don't think Gaius and Sumia will mind."

"Sure." I hid my enthusiasm, but I was giddy. As much as I wanted to flee to my sleeping quarters and deescalate from this much… socialization, the concept of getting wasted had a certain tug on my thoughts that went unmatched. _Sake here I come!_

"Let's go, then!" The merc exclaimed, spinning on his heel and waving us to follow with his good arm. The smile that he gave Coredlia never left his face as we walked, and throughout the small banter he exchanged with the pegasus knight and myself during our trek, it was infectious. The idea of a good drink was as appealing to him as it was to me, yet he was more gung-ho about it. "It's been too long," he said. He hummed to himself and walked with high steps and a higher bearing. "My mouth is watering."

A longer building built in a slightly different structure from the others came into view. Based on the balcony on the second floor and the cacophony of drunken conversations and raucous laughter, this was the tavern. I paled, but took deeper breaths and stuck close to Robert and Cordelia.

Robert laughed and pushed through the door, nodding to the Anna standing guard outside, and swept in with his good arm outstretched. "Where's my crew?" he shouted, and the clearly intoxicated Gaius, Vaike, Sully, and Sumia raised their mugs in cheer from their seats around the bar. "Hell yeah!" He laughed again and turned back to Cordelia and I. "I love drunk people. I can't _wait_ to get fucked up!"

He took off through the tavern, beelining for the other Shepherds. Cordelia shot an indiscernible look my way and pursued him. Just like that, I was alone and surrounded by strangers. It seemed like the opening in the mass of people closed and I was surrounded. "Oh…" I frowned and shrunk into myself. This was… very overwhelming. I spun around in search for the nearest wall, as it felt like I drifted further and further away from their safety.

"Gods…" I was buzzing. I swallowed it and took a series of deep breaths. _Get to the Shepherds._ No one here was overly tall, many I stood a head or so higher than. This gave me a vantage point. I scanned the field of people for Gaius's orange, Vaike's yellow, Sully's red, Cordy's red, or Rob's brown. They were at the bar, right? How far was that? Which way as that?

"Mehhh," I pushed through the wall of persons in my way. _There are so many_. The heat was suffocating with so many people clustered in one space, and the smell of alcohol was thick.

"Emile?" Perhaps I'd imagined it, but I could have sworn I'd heard Robert call my name from… behind me? Was I going the wrong way? I spun that way and pushed onward, despite my legs wanting to freeze up. My limp didn't help, either, and made me bump into more people than necessary. "Where you at, lancer?"

Yep, that one was 100% him. The pounding of my heart eased and I let out a sigh of relief. With renewed vigor, I pushed through the last barricade of tourists standing in my way and found myself in an open area by the bar. I saw him sitting next to Gaius. Cordelia wasn't sitting, rather darting between the merc and Sumia, the latter of which was _very_ drunk. Her concern was apparent, a deep frown and furrowed brow dominated her face in a mask of emotion. Robert's back was straight, head tipped back as he tried to spy my face from the innumerous others that surrounded the half-circle of open space around the Shepherds. His face lit up when he saw me, and he waved me over with a small porcelain cup in his hand.

"Where were you?" he asked as I approached. It was hard to hear him.

"I, uh, got distracted," I said and took a seat next to me. He slid a cup like his over to me. I picked it up and smelled it. I didn't recognize the fruity scent, and it didn't smell like any alcohol I'd had before. "What's this?"

"Sake."

 _Sake!_ I wrapped my hand around the cup and raised it to my lips, about to down the entirety of it, when Robert nudged me with his elbow. "You're supposed to sip it, lancer. Like wine."

How he was an expert, I knew not, but I trusted him. He couldn't know _less_ than me, at least.

As I sipped the rice wine—eventually I needed a refill, and the Anna behind the counter was more than happy to oblige as long as I paid—I let the Shepherds' conversations bleed over me. Sully and Vaike were talking about weapons, the latter challenging the former to a duel at some point, though their slurred words led me to believe that neither would remember this in the morning.

Stahl had shown up at some point. I didn't recall him ever sitting down, but once when I turned to the side I saw him in the seat next to me sipping out of a glass like mine and overlooking the crowd. Occasionally, he'd try to start up a conversation with me and it would fall flat. I gave him points for trying, but didn't blame him for walking over and chatting up Sully.

Vaike gave him a hearty laugh and passed the cavalier whatever was in his hand. Stahl took a sip, recoiled from the strength, and earned another chuckle, this time from both the Teach and Sully like both of them didn't react the same way when they first tried it. Vaike slugged him in the shoulder and took his drink back.

"You want something stronger?" Rob called to me at one point, yelling past Cordelia. As the night went on, people left and the tavern grew less crowded, but the noise level seemed to rise regardless.

I took a look at my empty cup, considered, then nodded. He waved over the serving Anna. I couldn't hear what he said, but she turned to me with a wide-bottomed bottle. She uncorked it, grabbed a glass from under the bar, and filled me up. I was no longer overwhelmed by the sheer population here, which was good. I felt warm and more than twice as relaxed as when I got here. Still, all of the conversation happened around me.

I was two or three more glasses into this new drink when Cordelia pulled Gaius aside. I hadn't heard what he'd said—I'd been too distracted by the other couples milling about—but if Robert's expression was any indication, it hadn't been too wise. A slovenly Sumia was half-lying on the bar, her rosy brown hair splayed out in a pool around her head, having been let loose from the binds that tied it out of her face.

"Hey, you feelin' alright, Sumia?" Rob asked, scooting over to take Gaius's seat. The pegasus knight lifted her head. Her hair fell over her face, insistent on obscuring her vision.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Yeah?" She nodded, smiled from behind her curls, and laid her head back on the counter. "That's good." She nodded again. "Let me know if you feel sick, alright? Or Gaius or Cordy, okay?" A third nod, and a mumble.

Robert moved over to me and chuckled. "New drinker. Gotta be careful, y'know?" I nodded and took a sip. "Don't want her to hurt herself. Cordy'd kill me."

"Sounds about right."

"What about you, bud? You doing good? Having fun?"

"Mm. What are Cordelia and Gaius talking about?"

He shrugged. "Beats me." We both looked over to the pair. The pegasus knight was giving the thief an earful, for sure, but she seemed calm about it. Gaius's posture was steady, considering how much he'd had to drink. His balance was still off, though, and he swayed on occasion. "I just know he offered Sumia another drink and Cordy apparently objected."

"Why?"

"You know how she is and… well, I can't exactly blame her. I like the guy, but like she said, Gaius can be a bad influence. And he's shady. When a girl like Sumia is as drunk as she is and is around someone like Gaius? You can really only expect the worst unless you know better."

"What do you think?"

"I think he's trustworthy because I know better, if you catch my drift. The man's a thief, but that's it. I know he wouldn't do anything… unsavory, we'll say, to one of the prince's closest friends. His interest lie in candy and coin."

"They _only_ lie in candy and coin," Sumia muttered in a pouty voice. We looked over to see her, hair pushed to the side to show her face, running her finger over the rim of an empty glass and staring off into space. " 'S all he cares about."

Rob and I exchanged glances. "What does that mean?" I whispered to the mercenary, who proceeded to repeat the question to Sumia.

"It means all he cares about is sweets! He doesn't care about me…"

I had the sense not to delve into this. I didn't know where it was going to go, but dealing with drunk women talking about their feelings was alien to me, and I was not about to investigate it now.

Robert's appetite for drama and talking was not sated, however, so he pursued it. He knew what he was getting into when he said, "I reckon he cares for you a good deal, Sumia. I don't think Gaius would take a dagger for just any stranger." I didn't recall Gaius getting stabbed, but Sumia did. With an exasperated groan, she sat up, eyes closed in a pout and shoulders slumped. She looked like a child.

"That isn't what I mean! I know we're friends but he doesn't…" she sighed. "I overhead him talking to Nowi the other day." She slumped back against the counter, but propped her head up with one arm. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I was bringing him a plate of bee larvae to cheer him up because he'd never had it before and he didn't think it would be good. When I heard them talking, I made to leave because I didn't want to eavesdrop, but then Nowi asked him about his preference in women and my curiosity got the better of me."

How did that conversation come about? "What did he say?" Robert asked, egging her on.

"He said he preferred older women. With confidence. And Poise." The pegasus knight sulked. "And I don't have any of that. I'm younger than him, clumsier than a drunken, three-legged horse, and get sheepish and clammed up all the time. Nothing like his type."

Robert turned away, back toward me, with a hint of a concealed smile on his face and a glint in his eyes. "Sounds like someone's in love," he mouthed. He shook his head, then looked back at Sumia when he'd thrown off his grin. "Sumia, I don't think he was serious when he told Nowi that."

"What? Why would he lie?"

"I'm willing to bet my bottom dollar that he was saying it just to get the manakete off his back. I don't suspect he'd tell someone as talkative as Nowi his real type. She'd probably spread it through the entire camp."

The pegasus knight shot bolt upright, her eyes shining. "So you think I have a chance?"

"A pretty good chance, at that." The merc said, nodding sagely. Then his eyes shot open and he raised a finger. "However, I recommend waiting until, pfft I don't know, tomorrow? until you act on it. If you do, that is."

"Why?"

He nodded to the edge of the bar, where a circle of empty bottles and glasses circled her and the area around Gaius's seat. A wide circle, one that didn't contain all of their used bottles as Anna had taken some away beforehand. The counter was getting quite crowded; they'd been here awhile prior to our arrival.

"Oh."

"Excuse me, Rob." Gaius tapped him on the shoulder, and Cordelia settled into her original seat. Robert scooted over to let the thief do the same, and the orange-headed man cleared his throat. He sniffed and scratched his chin while waving the Anna clerk over

Robert turned to Cordelia with a subtle smirk and asked, "What did you talk to him about? He seems mellow and… subdued?"

"I'm afraid that is going to have to stay between us," The woman said. She swiped his half-empty glass and downed it, surprising both of us, and muttered a quick, "Sorry." Was her apology for taking his drink or the secrecy? Whatever the answer, the pegasus knight said no more.

"My _gin_." He ordered up another glass, glaring at Cordelia all the while. Past him, I spied Gaius tipping half of his drink into one of Sumia's empty glass, followed by chatter. Across the bar, Vaike was passed out, laying in a slump against the table, while Sully and Stahl carried a jovial conversation. I finished what little remained of my glass and sighed. It seemed my inclusion in the bar-side banter had passed.

I waited another ten minutes or so, then said my farewells with the excuse that I was turning in for the night, to which Robert said he would be heading out soon, too. It wasn't a lie on my part, per se. I was tired, and the prospect of a bed, no matter how comfortable, was a welcoming one. However, I had one thing I wanted to do tonight.

My little errand would not take long. In fact, it was on the way to my quarters, so I would waste no time. The infirmary was close, but I prayed it was not too late or that Calliope had not already gone to bed.

The streets were dead. I did not see a single other person on my trek, and my footsteps were the sole sound to permeate the vacant air. At least, until I rounded the corner and saw a tall-winged figure flanked by a shorter one. The figured waved, and soon passed out of the shadows, showing his face.

"Hey, Emile."

"Dylan." I nodded. "What are you doing out so late?"

"Mia and I were just coming back from Chrom's." He jerked his head back at the woman behind him, who offered a wave and a polite smile. A bird sat upon her shoulder. Strange. I returned them, and Dylan continued. "But his door was locked, so we're heading over to Lissa."

"You are Mia, I take it?" I stuck my hand out to the white-haired woman, a vague feeling that I knew her coming over me. I quashed the feeling and offered a smile. To my surprise, she moved to shake my hand, but stopped herself and bowed instead. "Uh…" I retracted my hand slowly, too liquored up to know how to respond to being responded to with a bow. Was it not normal to shake hands here? Was it disrespectful? Was I supposed to bow back? "Right. I'm Emile."

"I am." She smiled. Her bird tweeted. "Dylan asked me for help in helping talking to your prince and princess after their loss."

"If you can, we will all be in your debt."

"No need." She perished the thought with a wave and a gracious shake of her head. "I am merely helping where I can."

"Either way, thank you."

"What about you?" Dylan asked. "It's pretty late to be wandering around alone, isn't it?"

"I was on my way back from the bar, or tavern, or… whatever." I jerked my thumb back the way I came. It was late, wasn't it? Too late for my tastes. I wanted to fall into bed. "Rob and Cordelia were headed there and I tagged along. Figured it was time for me to take off."

"Headed to bed, then?" I nodded, and so did he. "Sounds tempting. I'm likely to do the same once I got all this cleared up."

"I wish you luck. Thanks again for your help, Mia." She returned my thanks, bowed again—this time, I did, too, though it probably looked wonky because I was unbalanced—and made her way past me. Dylan gave a brief smile, nodded, and followed her.

I scratched my head as I watched them go, but was quick to resume my route to the infirmary.

I knocked on the door when I arrived. There were sounds inside, a mumbled, constant voice the predominant one. The thumping of footsteps, gentle against the wood but still audible, and growing closer. I heard a short, hurried conversation on the other side of the door and thought it would be funny to interrupt, so I knocked again, a heart rapping of my knuckles loud enough to echo. One of the people inside let out an "Eep!" and I chuckled.

The door opened a crack, a flustered Calliope on the other side. She looked tired. Behind her, a blonde… woman? in white priest (ess?) robes walked into the back room. I peered over the healer's shoulder, but she slid her hand up the door and blocked my view with her arm. "Good evening, Emile. What brings you over here?"

"I, uh…" Forgot. Oh, that's right. "I came for a check-up. Been feeling a little… off… tonight."

"Are you sure it isn't booze wooziness?" she asked. "I can smell it on your breath."

"No, before then. Before nightfall, actually." It had occurred to me that the buzzing in my veins was nerves at one point, but that passed, as had the same suspicion the cleric had. "I think… I think it started during the fight."

"An injury?" She perked up, her eyes going wide and all signs of fatigue disappearing under the rug. The door swung open. "What happened?"

"I was hit by a Levin sword. The magic part, I mean. I meant to check up earlier but it kind of…" slipped my mind "slipped my mind." Oops. Hadn't meant to say that.

Her eyes narrowed and she scowled, but then a smooth voice called her name from the back room. "Can I get your help in here?" The voice didn't sound stressed or panicked. Still caught both of our attentions, though, and gave rise to several questions from me.

"Help?" I asked. "Is someone hurt?" It was likely that someone sustained damage—I knew for a fact that Zach had, and Krystal was getting checked up on at one point, if I wasn't mistaken. If someone else had gotten hurt, though, surely I would have heard? Or someone would have been talking about it?

"Um." Her jaw fell open a tad and she averted her eyes. "I can't say."

"You can't say?"

"Oh no. Ah, I-I-I mean, I'm certain that you're imagining things. Levin magic has little to no lasting effects, so—"

"What do you mean you can't say?" She flushed and turned away, moving to close the door in my face. "No, no," I said. The door was unable to close with my foot in the way. "Why can't you say?"

* * *

I hesitated before knocking on Lissa's door. Chrom's door was one thing, but Lissa was… a princess. Yeah, Chrom was a prince, too—more than a prince, a full-on exalt now—but the difference was in the "ess" part.

All of the lanterns in the hall were lit, still, but dim enough to cast shadows, dark arcs between each door. My hand hovered an inch away from Lissa's, and I drew back another third.

"What are you waiting for?" "Mia" asked. She had grown short with me during our brief time together. I didn't really know why, but if I had to guess, it was because I hadn't said a word to her since we met up with Emile. And, it was possible that my earlier crudeness had convinced her to give me a short leash.

"I'm a little…" How did I word this?

"Scared?"

"I'm not scared," I blurted. "It just doesn't feel right knocking on a princess's door, you know? It's… well, it's a m—"

"Mia" pushed past me and rapped her knuckles against the door. "What was her name, again?" she asked. "Lissa, right?" I frowned. "Princess Lissa?" she asked, her voice lighter and friendlier. "I've come to talk to you. I know you've been through a lot; horrors unimaginable and unjust—a friend of yours told me as much."

My frown deepened. "Here." I put a hand on her shoulder and she stepped aside. "Lissa, it's Dylan." I had no clue if she would know my voice. I couldn't recall a single time we'd spoken in earnest. A few fleeting greetings while I was in the infirmary, but seldom else. Still, it was more likely that she would recognize me than a dancer she'd never met before.

That thought made me doubt the usefulness of my idea. What good was the word of a stranger when you'd been through all that the exalted family had?

"Lissa, I need to talk to you."

"Mia" crossed her arms in impatience. I regretted putting her in a foul mood, but there was little I could do about it now. "I wonder if she's asleep, too," I muttered. I was in the middle of knocking a second time when the doorknob jiggled and twisted. I took a step back and "Mia" uncrossed her arms.

It opened a crack, at first, and a tired-looking, puffy greyish-green eye peered out. It blinked once, then the door eased open more. "Can I help you guys?" Lissa asked in a tender voice. She wore a smile, but it was forced, and reached nowhere near her eyes. Reddened eyes, at that. One hand rested on her hip and the other on the door. She made no indication that we were welcome in. Then again, I hadn't expected one.

"I wanted to talk to you. Or, rather, 'Mia' did."

"Wh—uh," the princess cleared her throat. "What about?"

Now was the performer's chance to speak up. "My name is 'Mia'. Dylan here told me what you and your brother have been through." If Lissa was feigning ignorance before, her composure broke and her expression soured. She sunk into herself as my silver-haired companion continued. "Your loss is horrible and unfair. I have experienced my share of vileness and hatred in the world and have suffered at its hand. I know the cruelty and the pain you feel."

"How can you know?" Lissa asked. Her lower hand tensed, taking her yellow dress in a tight fist. "She was my big sister, and the closest thing to a mother I've ever had. She shouldered the burden of raising me and Chrom and Ylisse. I couldn't even work up the courage to do the one thing I _can_ do." She threw a nasty look over her shoulder and sniffled. "I couldn't Rescue her when she needed it, and I let her down."

I looked away. Crying was… well, other people's crying was not exactly my favorite thing to witness.

"My losses are not the same," "Mia said, holding a hand over her heart. "And I will not pretend the pain is equal, but I too lost someone. Someone very dear to me, my dearest… He…" She shook her head, eyes closed for a second. "It took me a long time, but I realized that he wouldn't want to see me driving myself to the ground. After that, I got better. And you'll get better, too. I promise."

I looked back up to see their eyes locked. "Mia's" were determined, yet soft, and something was missing in Lissa's that made them look wholly wrong.

"There will always be a part of you that's missing, like a hole that can never quite be filled. But you will get better. Time heals all wounds, Princess Lissa. Look at me now." "Mia" spread her arms, her kimono flowing in its blues and reds. She smiled and her eyes glimmered. "I am dancing in a festival worlds apart from my own. If that is not growth, then I do not know what is."

There was no expression on Lissa's face. "Keep that in mind." "Mia" bowed to the princess before turning to leave. Her smile was less genuine as I was now its focus. "I appreciated our time, Hawk. I hope I was able to help."

She walked off, her bird following after tweeting once in my face.

I stood in front of Lissa for an awkward eternity. She leaned against the door and hugged her arms to herself. I cleared my throat. "I, uh, don't have any words that can help you. I've never lost anyone like you or suffered anything comparable. The best I can offer is a shoulder to cry on if you need it. And I'm not alone in that. Remember that you have people here who are more than willing to help. Frederick seems like he would be knocking down your door if it meant he could help."

I cleared my throat again, scratched the back of my head, and decided to make my leave. I was hallway down the hall when I heard a meek, "You're right."

"What?"

"About Frederick." Her back was to me, against the doorframe. "He was already here five times today."

I thought I heard a hint of a smile in her voice, and let one creep onto my face. "Figured as much." Good ol' Frederick, one step ahead of me five times over.

Now, what was it Emile was saying about hitting the hay? I was a big fan of such a thing.

* * *

Words escaped me. I stood in the doorway, flapping my lips like a fool while Emile repeated his same question. I had no idea what to say. I couldn't come clean and tell him that Zach had strangled Robin in an alley and now Mister Libra and I were trying to find ways to deal with it.

My conundrum was not helped by Mister Libra calling my name from the back, either. I was made more nervous, if anything, and my useless sputtering was making Emile impatient.

He huffed and stamped his foot, folding his arms. "What are you hiding?"

"I'm not hiding anything!" My statement was hard to defend when I was struggling to shut the door past his outstretched foot. "Look, I gave you your diagnosis, and I'm really busy, so I'd appreciate it if you would return to your room and let me get back to my work."

"All I want to know is, who's hurt?"

"No one is hurt." The lie was so obvious, it hurt. I stuck to it regardless. "Mister Libra just needs my help mixing medicines for tomorrow, and we're quite busy. So if you'll excuse me…" I nudged his foot. "I'd like to get back to it."

He blinked, gaze unwavering as it measured my excuse. I sent a silent prayer to Naga that he took the bait and left me in peace. Relative peace, anyway. "Alright, I'm sorry for disturbing you. Thanks for your time." He stalked off, disappearing into the dark of night. When I was sure he was gone, I sighed and shut the door. Another call from Mister Libra brought me back to the room.

"I'm sorry I took so long," I said, shutting the door behind me as I entered. Zach hadn't moved, but Robin had calmed a little. She no longer had her knees huddled to her chest, but her eyes were pointed away from us. "I didn't want to give anything away."

"Who was it?" Robin muttered. Her shaking had gotten worse. I could think of nothing to ease it aside from wrap her up in blankets. She did not argue.

"Emile. He said he hadn't been feeling well after the battle earlier today, and wanted a check-up. It wasn't anything serious, but he heard Mister Libra calling me and thought someone was hurt. He was incessant after that, and wouldn't leave until I assured him everything was alright."

She hummed in response. I almost asked where Mister Libra was, but spotted him knelt by Zach's cot. He had a long cloth and was in the midst of retying the myrmidon's sling when I came up behind him. I waited until he was finished to ask why he had been calling me.

"I had hoped you'd be able to mix me up some numbing medicine while I readjusted his sling," Mister Libra said. "But I noticed that there was some still sitting by the chair, so I used that. Would you mind helping me gather these up and put them away?"

"Not at all." He grabbed the vials he'd used and brought them back over to our chairs. I grimaced when I saw how many I'd spilled in my haste to chase after him and Lady Robin. I picked up what I could and set it to the side. Then I grabbed a towel from the other room. I sopped up the spilt mixtures, grimacing the entire time. An hour of tedious work soaked into the matted floors. I would have to spend much of the day tomorrow buying the ingredients again to remake all of it. My excuse to Emile wasn't far from the truth, after all.

I put the remaining potions in the cabinet in the foyer. Just as I closed the glass door, a knock sounded against the front door. Before I could hurry to answer, it swung open and Robert strode in, Cordelia tailing him.

"Robert!" I balked, more out of surprise than outrage, though I could smell the alcohol on his breath. A cheeky grin spread across his face, and Cordelia sighed. "Are you drunk?" It occurred to me that this was the least of my worries, however. If he wanted to enter the backroom, I had no way of stopping him. Even if I managed to, I could not come up with an excuse that would appease both him and Cordelia. I felt myself pale at the thought.

"No, don't worry." He put his hands up in defense. "Cordy wouldn't let me have anymore and told me that we should probably head back."

"S-So why'd you head back here?" I bit my tongue for stuttering like that. _Don't be nervous_. _Don't give anything aw—_

"I figured I'd stay another night in here." Those words hit me like an arrow to the chest. I swore that my heart stopped and time froze. "It's not like I have anywhere else to go while we're here." I had no chance of turning him away now.

It must have shown on my face, because a scowl soured his face. "What's wrong?"

"Umm." My _accursed_ eyes flicked over to the backroom. He picked up on it, leaving me hopeless. My next words fell on deaf ears. He was halfway to the door when I worked my voice free. "N-Nothing. Can't you bunk with someone else for tonight?"

Luckily, Mister Libra was quicker than me, and pretended to be just leaving. He and Robert nearly ran into one another, and Mister Libra made to block the door as much as he could without looking suspicious. "Good evening, Robert," he said, then raised an eyebrow. "Have you been drinking?"

"Not enough to be fooled by you guys, what happened?" His voice stern and serious, with an edge to it that startled me. Mister Libra furrowed his brow and crossed his arms while Cordelia looked between the three of us. I met her eyes for an instant.

"Did something happen?" the Pegasus knight asked. Mister Libra avoided the question.

"Why don't you find somewhere else to sleep tonight?" he asked. "You can have my room if you want. I still have work to do, so I won't miss it."

"Don't avoid her question, Libra. Did something happen? Why are you keeping me from going in there?"

"Nothing happened," he said.

Robert was unphased. He pushed past Mister Libra, growling, "You're terrible liars." Mister Libra sighed and let Cordelia follow. He and I exchanged a look before joining them.

"What the hell happened?" I winced at his volume, his voice angry and booming in the quiet of night. I couldn't speak. I had given my word to Robin that I would not tell a soul, but if he had already found out… What good did it do?

I looked to Mister Libra for guidance, but he was stone-faced.

Robert was glancing back and forth between Robin and Zach. "What happened?"

"Noth—" My attempt was cut off before it could leave my lips.

"Bullshit," the mercenary blurted. Cordelia was swift to his side, muttering something in his ear, but he disregarded her. "No."

"Robert, you must quit shouting," Mister Libra said, his gentle voice a harsh contrast to the mercenary's. "Relax and—"

"No! How can I relax? Look at them! Robin's got bruising on her neck and she's shakin' like she's in an earthquake and Zach's mutterin' to himself like a goddamn lunatic! What happened?" Imaginary dots connected in his head. "What did you do?"

"They didn't do anything," Robin muttered, looking at us out of the corner of her eye. The blanket I'd given her was swaddled tight around her, covering her head in the place of her hood. "I told them not to say anything. Made them swear it."

"Well if they didn't hurt you, then who did?" His voice was lower now, but no cooler. His words were as hot as his furious face was red.

"Me." All of us, excluding Robin, looked to Zach, who had just spoken his first words that weren't "I'm sorry" since we found him. I, despite everything, was afraid for him in that moment.

Robert crossed the room and grabbed Zach by the collar. He lifted the myrmidon up so they were eye level and snarled, "What did you do? What did you do?!" He shook Zach violently as he shouted, the latter not reacting in the slightest, just swaying back and forth. His hair fell over his face, covering his eyes, and both Cordelia and Mister Libra started forward.

"I…" The words caught. Zach swallowed deep, even as Cordelia pulled Robert away from him and Mister Libra stood between them. The mercenary's grip came loose and the myrmidon fell back to the bed. "I hurt her." They came out choked, like they hurt to say, and were followed by a sob. "I hurt her. I fucked up, so, so bad. I hurt the woman that…" He shook his head, then buried his face in his hands. "I made the worst mistake."

Robert lunged for him, but the combined effort of Cordelia pulling back on his arms and Mister Libra putting an arm forward and bearing a sterner expression than any I'd seen him wear in a long time. "You're goddamn right you fucked up!" the mercenary barked. "You don't _ever_ lay a hand on a woman like that, you fucking understand me?" One more pull, and he was fed up. He jerked free of Cordelia's grasp and stormed into the foyer.

"Don't let him leave," Robin said. "He can't tell anyone."

Mister Libra followed after Robert, but I remained with Cordelia. "Why?" the Pegasus knight asked. It felt like the first time she'd spoken, and her concerned voice was refreshing compared to Robert's fury. "Why can't he tell anyone? Why are you protecting Zach after he hurt you?" Robin winced at that. Cordelia noticed and stole a glance at me.

"The memory is… painful," I said. I could not pretend to understand Lady Robin's true feelings on it, so that was the best summary I was able to give. "Try to be less blunt when talking about it."

The Pegasus knight nodded. She brought up a good point, however. One that I had to agree with. "She is right, however, Lady Robin. Why defend him? What he's done is tantamount to treason." It went unspoken that he would be removed from the Shepherds. If it were me… I would not have hesitated to spread the truth. The faster to get him far away, the better. _Even now_ … I looked back at him. It would be a lie to say that I didn't want him gone now. He was dangerous, yet as inactive as he was now, he would not be much help in battle. As tactician, surely she realized that?

"That is the problem." Her speech wavered with her shaking. The shouting had worsened it, it seemed. "If word got out that one of the oldest Shepherds had cracked under the pressure of war and…" She paused for a long time. "…committed a treasonous act, it would decimate our already dwindling morale. We can't have that, not now, when we're in dire need of a miracle."

"So you'll suffer through it?" Cordelia asked. "That will be hell on your mind, Robin. You can't. We can't ask you to bear that for us."

"It isn't a matter of what you can ask," the tactician said. "It's a matter of what I can do, and what I am. I am Chrom's tactician first and foremost, and I am strong. I can will myself through whatever it takes, because what I feel does not matter when I have an army to lead."

We fell silent for a time. In the other room, Robert and Mister Libra were exchanging heated murmurs. I could not understand a word, but it sounded tense, almost as much as in here.

"What's your plan, then?" Cordelia was the first to speak. "You can't hide this forever."

"I don't need to hide it forever. Just until the end of the war. After that, he's gone." Robin sighed. "Until then, though, it'll be a struggle. Battle isn't the issue—Lon'qu and Gregor can act as more than efficient replacements. The problem is image. People will get suspicious if he's always holed up somewhere. And I don't want to include anyone else in this. There's already too many as it is."

"I don't think that's possible."

"I could watch after him." They looked at me in tandem. It took a few seconds for me to realize that I'd spoken. "I mean, I could always use help mixing medicines, and no one will get suspicious if they think I asked for his help, right?"

"That's true," Robin murmured.

"What about Sumia?" Cordelia mentioned. "Aren't you teaching her?"

 _Drat_! I'd forgotten about that. "Well… it won't be too much of a problem, will it? She and Zach seem to get along fairly well."

"It doesn't matter if they 'get along,'" Robin snapped, then retreated to her more neutral tone. "He and I 'got along'. I was beginning to think it was more than that, but…" She looked down and drew her blanket over her mouth. "The problem is gossip. I want as few people to know about this as possible. We need to keep this contained as long as we can."

"Sumia won't gossip," Cordelia promised. Her resolute expression reassured me. I hoped my idea had been helpful. "I can fill her in on the details beforehand, and tell her to keep it quiet. She won't tell anyone if I say so."

"There," I said, finally hopeful. Tonight was exhausting. "It's settled, then."

"No," the tactician began, "we still have to—"

"It can wait until morning." I used the sternest voice I could muster and put on my healer's mask. "For now, we all need rest. Tomorrow, we can think more clearly and work out the details. We just need to work out who is going to sleep where."

"I'm sleeping in here." Robert startled me, his voice calmer and more measured now as he strolled in from behind me. His face was no longer beet red. "I can keep watch over him."

"I will join you." It was my duty, as healer, to watch over my patients. If nothing else, I could do this. It would make up for my lack of utility during all this drama. "Robin can take my bed, and everyone else will return to their assigned rooms."

The agreement was terse. Robert and Libra worked to get Robin upstairs, the latter remaining to clean up the long-forgotten mess I'd made when I first woke up earlier tonight. That felt like ages ago now. Robert came back down, exchanged a few tired words with Cordelia and shot the Pegasus knight a grin before she left. He sat down on a cot two or three meters away from Zach, and I sat across the room from the myrmidon.

Libra returned after a while, informed us that Robin had fallen asleep, and made to leave. I thanked him for his help.

Nothing was spoken between Robert and I for a long time. An hour must have passed before I finally stood and doused the torch lighting the foyer. I returned to the awkward silence and took my seat. Minutes passed, and Robert sighed.

"And I made a joke about their marriage," he said. He let out a dry laugh, his hands moving to cover his face in shame. "Good god, what a mess. How did it all go wrong so fast?"

I shrugged. I was dead-tired, too tired to speak, like every drop of energy had been burned up to walk out into the front room and back. I slumped back onto the cot and it creaked its complaints. I ignored them and groaned. When I pledged myself to the church of Naga all those years ago, I had wanted to help people. To heal the hurting and cure the afflicted. This was not what I had in mind.

"If you want to sleep," Robert called, "go ahead. I still have a few hours left in me, so I can keep watch. I'll make sure he gets to sleep before I do."

If I would have had the energy, I would have thanked him. What with the fatigue of the past week compounding and landing on me like a boulder, however, the best I could offer was an affirmative grunt before darkness and peace took me. I was thankful to have dreamless sleep.

 **Hey, uh, so I know it's late, and I know I said it would be quicker this time, but hear me out. With all of the school stuff going on, and this being my senior year, I have to deal with colleges and scholarships and all that jazz. That, combined with work, has left me tired and without much time. In addition, I was struck with a wave of "unambition" for a while, and I had no motivation to get this done.**

 **I'm upset that I missed this story's birthday. I had originally intended to upload it to celebrate the occasion, that being on the 3** **rd** **of October, but it seems I'm roughly 26-ish days late. Still, happy birthday Fractured and Burned! This story is a whole year old. Goddamn, isn't that something? It's unimaginable how far we've come, and yet how far we still have to go.**

 **That said, I am going to OFFICIALLY resign the biweekly upload rate. That clearly isn't going to hold up, and if I'm being honest, having a schedule makes writing feel like work, and I don't want that. I want my writing to be genuine, which was part of that lack of motivation. I can't bring myself to do work. I just can't. Writing isn't fun then. But when I'm writing to write, I can plow out those 3000 words a week like I used to. So, to ease that burden on myself and hopefully manipulate my psyche into pumping out more frequent chapters, I'm going to rescind the schedule. Chapters will finish when they finish, and that'll be that.**

 **With how long it's been, I haven't been able to read all of your wonderful review, either! I miss it a lot, so load me up and give me that positive reinforcement. Your reviews are more than half of the reason I write this mess, anyway. But yeah, I miss it dearly, so butter me up! Let me know your thoughts on the whole POV deal.**

 **And that's all I think I have to say. 17,300 words should be good for a while, no?**

 **All of the Oats have left the building.**


	27. Chapter 26: Back in Business

**Fire Emblem is owned by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.**

 **Robert:**

I woke up way after Calli. She was already milling about the room. She had several open crates sitting around and was packing things into them. I took a quick survey of the room and noticed, one, that Zach was asleep—he looked peaceful, relaxed in oppose to last night—and two, it was empty.

I groaned and pushed myself upright. I'd dozed off resting in a strange position. Both my neck and back hurt. "What's going on?"

"Good morning to you, too," the cleric said, tucking in the corners of a full box. She gave me a slight smile before standing and stretching her back. Now that she had some sleep, she looked much better. Her eyes had a lively light to them. "Sir Frederick cam in this morning. He said we should pack up and be ready to leave by tonight."

I hummed. "Do you want help?"

"Only if you're offering."

She told me what to grab and I packed it into the boxes. Before long, we had another filled and were halfway through another. We talked as we worked. "How long have you been up?"

"A few hours. Sir Frederick woke me up."

"Was he awake still?" I jerked my chin over to the sleeping myrmidon. Last thing I remembered last night, I'd made an attempt to pull some words out of him, but hadn't gotten a response. I was pretty sure he stayed up later than I had.

"No." She placed a wide jar between a group of similar jars filled with substances of various colors.

"And Robin?"

Calli shook her head. "Asleep. She deserves a good rest. I don't know the last time she had one." A third box full. She closed it and sighed. "But I should wake her soon anyway. There is still more to discuss on our little scandal."

I shot her a confused look. "Should you be calling it that?" I didn't like the way it sounded. _Scandal_. "It sounds like we're doing something wrong."

"Aren't we?" She paused, turning to face me. "We're hiding a _huge_ secret from our p—our exalt. Technically harboring a criminal."

She had a reason there. "Why don't you go wake her up, then," I said. "I'll finish this up and get Cordy." The cleric nodded after a moment of deliberation. When she walked out of the room, I cast a glance back at Zach. Still sleeping. Did he realize how much trouble he was going to cause? How much he already had? I frowned and finished up what I could of the last box. While the cots had already been here, we were taking the bedrolls that went atop them. With Zach still sleeping, I couldn't take the last one, but that could wait until all of us were gathered.

Oddly enough, I was grateful that Cordy had been as strict as she had been last night. I didn't drink enough to be really hungover. The daylight didn't strike me as overly harsh when I opened the door, either.

I was surprised to see that Calli was not the only one awake before me. To be fair, I had no idea how early it was, but I had a tendency to be an early riser, so seeing dozens of people occupying the street in front of the infirmary came as a bit of a shock. I blocked the sun with my arm and turned toward the row of dormitories.

Third try and I found Cordy's room. I had to ask Sumia, who was stumbling out of her room, completely disheveled. At least, her hair was. Her clothes looked to be on straight, at least. Still, her pale face and queasy look led me to believe that her hangover was not treating her well.

Considering Vaike was passed out in the front, though, she was not alone.

I was half-tempted to stroll into Cordy's room without warning, but a moment's thought changed my mind. Instead, I called her name, and she answered right away.

The door opened a crack. "Robert?"

"Hey. Good morning." I flashed her a grin. "Did I wake you up?"

"Uh, no," she said, glancing away. "Give me a second." She closed the door in my face. After a minute of shuffling, it opened again. She was dressed in the chest plate of her armor, and a simple pinkish dress underneath that flared out in a skirt just above her knees. "Good morning."

"Did you just put that on?" I asked with a smirk.

"Yes. Why?" I opened my mouth to speak, but she wasn't finished. "I'm worried about another Risen attack. One of us has to be prepared, seeing as you clearly aren't." She looked me over once and shook her head. A light blush colored her face.

"Damn, okay," I said, putting my hands up in defense. "I just came to ask if you wanted to come to Calli's for you-know-what, but if you're going to attack me right away…" I turned to walk away. One step, two step, aaaaaand…

"Wait." I stopped mid-step, teetering on the ball of my foot. She sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm just tired, and it's already been a long day. Just give me a moment, and we can go." She disappeared back into her room. I wandered back and lingered just outside, leaning against the wall next to the door.

I let my mind wander back to last night. I had the distinct feeling that I was forgetting something. I recalled the entire night at the bar, the slight quarrel with Cordy about attending, and right before…

I could have snapped my fingers at the recollection. _Our yukatas!_ In the heat of things, I had completely forgotten about getting measured for our free Outrealm garb. Did we get to pick the color, too? I had to get a red one. It couldn't replace my coat, but it would work as an aesthetic stand-in until I could buy a new one. Then again, this place was crawling with Anna. My short walk here from the infirmary spotted me more than a handful of the red ponytails bobbing about the tourists. Jingle a few coins and I was sure to be swarmed by the ravenous merchants.

My thoughts were interrupted by the door opening once again. "Alright, let's go." Cordy strolled past me. I noticed the flash of silver from her wing pins, and that they hadn't been there before.

"Are you all packed up?" she asked, turning down the stairs.

"Didn't have anything to pack."

"Oh."

"No sword, no coat. Only the clothes on my back. So technically, yeah. I'm packed."

I shrugged. She looked pensive, her hand on her chin. "Well maybe…" Her brow crinkled. "Perhaps after we've gotten everything cleared up with Robin…" I tilted my head to the side. "We could go shopping? Get you some new clothes, maybe a new sword to replace the one you lost?"

"Give us a proper chance to relax for once, too."

"That would be nice."

I grinned. "Kind of like a date, huh?"

She sighed and turned her face away from me. "I wish you wouldn't call it that."

"Why?" I opened the front door, flinched again at the daylight, but was soothed when Cordy did the same. "Afraid someone'll get the wrong idea?" Then I leaned closer and brought my voice low. "Afraid the commander will hear?" I fake-gasped, and giggled as red flushed over her face.

"No!" she protested, pushing past me. I followed at a close pace, but kept a distance between us. She probably cooled at some point, but never slowed. She arrived at Calli's door and strode in a good ten to fifteen seconds before I did. All the while, I wore a grin on my face, pleased at how quickly I could fluster her.

I closed the door behind me. The Outrealm was coming to life. If it hadn't been awake before, the place was certainly up now, with the same uproarious chatter one expected from fairgrounds in the summer. When the door clicked shut, the noise was cut down noticeably, from uninterrupted voices to a dull, imperceptible thrum from outside the walls.

Robin was in the back room with Calli and Cordy. The tactician looked exhausted, even now. The haphazard way in which her coat was thrown over her shoulders and her let-down hair construed as much, as did the empty, drained look in her brown eyes. The lack of vitality was so stark, it would have been palpable to a complete stranger.

That said, walking in to see this after the cheery demeanor that infected everyone outside took a second to adjust.

Zach was awake now, as well, sitting up with his legs slung over the bed's edge—his bedroll was gone, no doubt tossed into the crate with the rest—and his head was hung low. His eyes stayed glue to the floor, refusing to meet any of our gazes.

Callie was sitting on the empty cot between the two, a polite smile on her face as she mediated the mood to the best of her ability. Her hands were folded in her lap. "Good morning, miss Cordelia."

"To you as well," Cordy replied. We took our places in the rough meeting circle, with her sitting and me standing beside her, leaning my back against the wall.

We twiddled our thumbs in silence for a time, kicked our feet at dust and whatnot. I grew tired of waiting, eager to enjoy the last day of our vacation before returning to death and steel. "So, what do we still have to decide?" Present company looked up to me with varying degrees of intensity, but shifted to Robin.

The tactician didn't react. She was still, staring into the empty space between us all. "Robin?"

"We need to work out the kinks," she blurted without shifting. Her dead expression tainted her words with a similarly emotionless tone. "Even if we keep him locked up mixing together medicines, people are going to get suspicious that he isn't out in the field. Similarly, you aren't the only healer, Calli, so we have to plan around Lissa and Maribelle entering the healing caravan in your stead and how we will sneak him in and out without either them noticing or anyone nearby, as well as how we will sneak him back in; of course, it goes without saying that neither of them can be in on it—as nobles, one of them being a princess, they are sure to report to Chrom, which is the last thing we want. I'm thinking maybe we can do shifts, with several minutes intervals between when you switch out with one of the other two to give us ample time to move. This doesn't solve the problem of moving him subtly, though. But at the same time, we can't keep him hidden away for months, or people will get suspicious. We need an excuse, or find a way to—"

"I'm not an item," Zach said, despondent. "I don't need to be couriered about like it. And I don't need to be hidden. Nor do I need to be treated like I'm the one who… you know." Robin's speech did not stop when he interjected. Her voice stopped, but the mumbling continued, uninhibited. Her lips moved in words that no one else could hear. "I'm not the one who deserves pity."

"Which is why you need to get your shit together," I blurted. I was not fuming anymore. A good night's sleep was all the cooling off I needed. But my patience for Zach was ground to a wire. I could not bear his self-pity act. "You acting like a beaten dog doesn't help anyone's case."

He winced. I felt a twinge of annoyance as he proved my point. "I know," he muttered. "Just let me handle myself. Focus on helping her. I won't tell anyone."

"And what's your excuse for being all mopey?" I asked. Cordy grabbed my arm, shooting me a look that said to calm down. I mouthed an apology. "No one is just going to ignore it."

"They won't notice. I don't have a lot of presence, so no one will notice. Not unless I put myself out there."

"Will you?"

"No." He sounded confident in spite of his monotone delivery. "I'll keep to the sidelines. And even if they do notice," he shrugged, "I won't be the only depressed one in our troupe." His ability for planning surprised me. It was basic, but I felt a pang at the thought that Robin rubbed off on him a little.

I looked to Robin. She'd lapsed into silence, including her noiseless words. Her hand held her chin in thought, and her eyes had a new, albeit diminutive, assuredness to them.

"As for combat," Zach stood up, held his hand out for balance, "I can still fight. I can still help with medicine, too, if you need me to. I'll give everything I can. I can't make it up to her, but I can do that much."

Robin took a deep, sharp breath, drawing all of our eyes once again. Her muttering returned, and the steadiness disappeared in an instant.

"I should go," the myrmidon murmured. He didn't grab his sword, leaving it against the frame of the cot as he made to slip away. I pushed off the wall and followed him out into the front room after whispering to Cordy that I'd be right back.

I grabbed his arm when he touched the doorknob. "Where're you going?" I asked, moderating my tone.

"Socialize. Eat." He shrugged again. "I don't know. Something to appear normal."

I frowned. "You do that. But before we set out tonight, come find me. We need to talk."

"Look," he said, rolling his neck, "if you're going to yell at me again, just do it now. I've been beating myself up over this nonstop, and I'd rather you make it worse now while I'm only neck-deep in guilt rather than later when I'm drowning in it."

"Not that. We need to talk about what happened." He opened his mouth, but I cut him off. "I know it isn't cut and dry, not like you made it sound."

"I-"

"We'll talk tonight." I let go of his arm and started back toward the others. "Go enjoy the Outrealm while you can."

The door shut behind me. I strolled into the infirmary with both of my hands in my pockets. Cordy's eyes flicked up to me as I entered, silently questioning my absence. I held up a finger for patience; I would tell her later. "What else is there to get sorted?" I asked. I kept my voice soft—Robin was still once more, but I was scared she would get set off again.

"I doubt much," Calli said. She'd moved to sit by Robin, one hand on each of the tactician's shoulders. "Was there anything else we needed to discuss?"

The white-haired woman shook her head. "No. The risk factor has been removed."

I shared a glance with Cordy, gave a hesitant nod to Calli—who responded with a worried smile before reciprocating—and waved for Cordy to come with me. She stood, said farewells for the both of us, and followed.

Robin spoke again after we'd left—I heard her voice pick up as the door closed, but didn't turn back. Our role for the day was done. As long as we had no more interruptions, we were free to enjoy the remainder of our time at the hot springs. And, judging by how low the sun still was in the sky, I estimated we had at least ten hours at our disposal until it got dark. I would be lying if I said I wasn't glad to have the Robin-Zach situation off our back for now, too. Speaking of…

"What did you talk to Zach about before he left?" Cordy asked.

"That he could handle himself. At least we won't have to let Sumia in on this."

"That's all?"

I paused, thought briefly on whether or not I should mention the other part. "I told him that I wanted to talk later."

"You aren't going to yell at him again, are you?"

I let out a dramatic groan. "No, I'm not going to yell at him. Is that the impression I give off?" She smirked, and it spread to my face as I shook my head. "No, I just want to ask him a few questions. Something seems off about this whole thing—I don't think it was as simple they made it sound. I mean, tell me I haven't imagined it this entire time, there was something between those two before we came here. Some sort of spark, right?"

She nodded.

"So why," I said, lowering my voice, "would he just attack her out of the blue? It doesn't make any sense. There has got to be more to the story."

"You don't think she provoked him, do you?" Cordy asked, suddenly alarmed.

"Gods no," I said, shook my head. That was out of the question. Equally unlikely as him randomly assaulting her, too. In my book, at least. "No, she wouldn't."

"Do you have any ideas on what?"

"None, but we need to get this figured out. If it really was him lashing for no reason, I'm reporting it to Chrom." I expected an argument out of Cordy, but none came. She seemed dejected. I trusted that she wouldn't stop me if it came to that. "We can't keep him here if he's a threat. I'll remove him myself if I have to."

But there was time enough for that later. We were supposed to be on our way to a shopping date. I cleared my throat and scratched the back of my head. "Uh, anyway, where do you want to go first?" I forced a smile. "We have our whole day ahead of us."

She paused. I'd gone and made things awkward.

An Anna vending in the square was hawking goods. I heard a few of them, all shouting over one another to sell food, merchandise, and more food. Mm. Food. That sounded good. My mouth was watering at the smell of sizzling meat and frying veggies that wafted through the air like a delicious fog. I stopped walking to take a deep breath of the pungent aroma. I hadn't eaten today, either. My temptation was maximized, and my mind was made up. "You hungry?"

"I could for something to eat," she admitted.

"Then let's go." I waved her onward and made my way toward the line of stands that sold various types of food. "My treat."

I stalked along the length of them, eyeing up what they had to offer. Each stall had no more than two Annas running it. Both cooked, while the one doing the less extensive work called people over.

The first booth in line was run by a single Anna. She was in the middle of stirring a large pan filled with various vegetables and different kinds of meats when we walked by, all of which she was listing out for bystanders. She had to shout to be heard over both the sizzling and her siblings, who were doing much the same thing. "Fresh dagon fillet caught in the seas between Valentia and Archanea simmered over Lycian peppers, Hoshidan rice and sauce made of lemon juice from Chon'sin."

The next stall: straight steak. Good gods, it looks good. I could not even hear the Anna making it, nor her sister beside her, because I was too enamored by the immaculate slab of meat, slathered with seasoning and cooked to its prime. Oh, this was it. I felt it.

I didn't want to move on. I didn't want to wait and let someone else steal that magnificent hunk of meat, but I had to see what else there was to offer.

"Whoa, what's that over there." I hurried over to the next stall to see fruits. All fruits. "Huh." Bananas and grapes hung in clusters along its top rim, berries were dumped into pots atop the counter, leaving a small space for the two Annas running it to peak through and deal business. From the side, I could see even more boxes piled high with more exotic looking fruit, as well.

"Wow." It was a little overwhelming. And these weren't even all of the options.

"I can't decide."

"Fuck it," I said, pulling my coin purse free. This was going to cost me. "Who knows when we'll be able to come back? Let's try a little bit of everything."

 **Krystal:**

It wasn't the first time I woke up. In fact, I had not slept comfortably at all—I was practically straddling Chrom on the hardwood floor—waking up four or five times throughout the night. Why didn't I move? Short answer:

I was too embarrassed.

Long answer:

Well, pretty much the same thing. With Chrom's arms around my shoulders and my face pushed into his chest, I woke up flustered. I didn't move at first, and didn't at any point after because I remembered the night before and was scared to wake him. Poor man.

My racing heart made returning to sleep difficult. Each time, I had my eyes closed for half an hour before I managed to doze back off.

But now, the prince was shaking me awake. "Hey," he murmured, his hands as gentle as his voice gentle while shook my shoulders. "Wake up."

I pushed off him slowly, rubbing at my eye. "What?"

"It's morning." His tone was hurried, tense. He made to stand, more or less pushing me off in the process. "You should go."

The latter remark caught me off-guard. The embarrassment welling up in my stomach stopped short, and I was left gaping. "I'm sorry?" Those were the only words I could manage.

"I appreciate that you stayed with me," he began, turning away and straightening his shirt. "And… holding me when I… snapped. I'm thankful, truly. But I'm fine now. And it's best you leave soon. I don't want people thinking we… you know. It wouldn't be good for either of us."

"I see."

"So if you'd please," he stepped forward, put his hand out, and hesitated, before touching my shoulder and guiding me to the door. I didn't struggle until he twisted the handle, when I planted my feet and whirled to face him.

"Wait," I said, putting a hand on his chest to stop him. "Chrom—" it suddenly felt wrong to call him by name. I faltered, he opened the door. "If-if you ever need to talk about this, I know it can't be easy, but I—"

"I appreciate it," he muttered. His grimace didn't escape my notice. "But I'm fine. I promise." With that, he removed me and shut the door in my face.

I pulled my short cloak around me and turned away. He was right. Lingering around his door would only make people suspicious if they saw. I had no use staying here. Was it shame or embarrassment that pushed me out of that hall? I didn't know. Either way, it was emotionally overwhelming, and I could not be gone soon enough.

Bags were being packed, mutterings of leaving tonight. It seemed I needed to pack my own.

The light outside was blinding. It stung my eyes.

I lowered my gaze to the ground as I walked. The prince's words echoed in my otherwise empty mind. _I appreciate that you stayed with me_ , he'd said. _Best if you should go_. _You should go. Go, go, go_. I didn't belong. _Didn't want people to get the wrong idea. Wouldn't look good for either of us._ Why did it hurt so much?

I needed to talk to him again. Regardless of what he said… I doubted him. His outburst last night played in my head. A looped cycle of the Shield of Seals being pitched across the room and clanging off the wall.

Right now would be a bad time. I realized that, even though he needed help, going back would be confronting to him. I wanted him to trust me, not think he was being targeted or pitied, even if both were true, to some extent. I would talk to him later. When we were leaving.

"Hey." A woman's voice startled me from my thoughts. I jumped, my eyes shot up, and I winced as I bit down on the thumb whose nail I hadn't realized I'd been biting. "What're you staring at the ground for?" the peppy voice continued. To my side, a woman with beautiful blue hair done up in a ponytail smiled. Upon seeing the color, my first thought was Lucina. I swiftly killed the thought.

She squeezed past a group of passersby and smiled. "The majesty of the Bathrealms is above the ground. Lift yours eyes, girly. Take in the sights." Her voice was familiar. She pointed further down the street. "I recommend the hot springs, second left and the third right after that."

Still, if it hadn't been for the multitude of identical voices that hollered over one another, I may not have recognized it. Once I had, though, I noticed familiar features, and decided that her hair was the sole difference from her family.

I gave her a smile. "Thank you, I-I'll keep that in mind."

"Say, you're with those Shepherds, aren't you? Come all the way from Ylisse?"

I nodded.

"Oh," she grabbed a strand of hair that had come loose from her ponytail. "You like it?" She'd noticed my how my eyes gravitated to the foreign color on her head. "Normally my hair's a color like yours, but I dyed it with this." She produced a bottle small enough to fit in her palm from inside her white and blue yukata. "A drop does wonders. You lather it in with a little bit of water, and boom! Blue hair!" She flicked her ponytail for emphasis. "Much easier than the conventional means of hair dying—faster, too!"

"I see. That does sound easy."

"It is! I promise you that! In fact, I'll make you a deal." I took a step back. A gleam had entered the merchant's eyes as she thrust the bottle into my hands. "I give you my solemn promise that if it doesn't work as easily as I said, full refund." She punctuated the vow with a wide swipe of her arm. "Now, seeing as you're Ylissean," she hummed to herself, "that'll be 5 gold."

"W-what?" I sputtered, eyes going wide.

"Well, yeah, it's a spendy product. Easy to use doesn't translate to easy to make, you know what I mean?" The merchant flashed me a smile. "But it is well worth the price—and if it isn't, you get a refund! What do you have to lose?"

"I…" I stared down at the little bottle in my hand. I didn't really have any use for hair dye; I liked my red hair the way it was. Still, she had a point. What did I have to lose?

"Here, since you're clearly having trouble coming to a decision, let me make it easier: 4 gold, and the deal still stands. How does that sound?"

She made it difficult to argue there.

My hands counted and fished four golden coins from the leather pouch tied to my waist and slipped the bottle in their place. "Thank you for your business," the merchant said, bowed, and ducked away into the ever-shifting midday crowd.

I blinked. "Be sure to get your eyebrows, too!" her voice carried one last time.

That was… jarring. But it jolted me out of my doldrums.

It distracted me, as well. Pulled me away from my thoughts, instead fixing them on the fascinating product I'd acquired.

After all, it _did_ look good on that Anna. Great, even. Maybe it was how it matched with her yukata, but it made me wonder; she'd said we had similar hair after all, so how would my curls look in that shade of steady midnight blue? Certainly not as good as hers—hair wasn't everything—but I let my thoughts drift after the idea.

My wandering feet carried me down the street, picking out little bits of chatter. "This steak is delicious," a man bellowed. From the same direction, an Anna saying, "But wait, there's more!" and a woman pleading, "Please, no, I'm so full! I can't eat anymore."

Closer, coming from ahead of me, "That was so refreshing," came a young woman's voice. I jerked my eyes to face its origin. Two girls, my age or even a little younger, were walking out of a long hall that led to a larger round building. A blush was on both of their faces as their murmured in cheerful voices with the occasional bout of giggling. Both had a towel wrapped up in their hair, and their yukatas still clung to their skin from the increased moisture over here.

Without meaning to, I found myself in front of the bathhouse. And the idea of entering was very appealing: I hadn't had a good, relaxing bath since… I couldn't remember the last time, now that I thought about it. With the building right here in front of me, it was hard to turn down.

Inside the straw walls of the entry hall, the cobble-ground transitioned to a more polished, smooth stone pathway. At the end, an Anna with blue hair like the first one I saw today waited behind a plain counter. "Oh, a dark mage! I'd recognize that attire anywhere." she said when she saw me, waved me over. I took my time approaching, wary of the wet trail going down the middle of the path left from people's not quite dry feet. "We don't often see your kind over here—most are still tense from the war. Have you come for a relaxing dip in the hot springs?"

"Uh, y-yes."

"Then you've come to the right place." Without looking away from me, she smiled and turned her body to point to her left. "That's the ladies' bath over there. There is a changing room to my right—you can grab a towel in there and leave your clothes in a bag with me."

I nodded, took tentative steps, then finally relaxed with a sigh when I slid the changing room door closed behind me. Pristine white towels were stacked on a rack the length of one of those paper walls, and across from it were handles on which cloth bags were hung. In the middle of the wall between them was a large mirror, wide and tall enough for me to see the entirety of my upper body.

I took off my useless brown cloak first, staring down at the garment in disappointment. I appreciated that Robin tried to find something to help cover me up more, but this… I was just as well off without it. Each piece of clothing—if it could even be called that—was judged with the same scrutiny and distaste as I pulled them off of the skimpy ensemble. From the bikini-like part to the sheer partthat covered from my chest to my waist, I could not have been given something more revealing while still being clothed. I was saddened at how familiar it looked, but I couldn't think of from where. How was this acceptable dress anywhere?

My ease of breath died when I saw shadows moving about on the other side of one of the walls.

 _They can see me_ , I realized, and even without the mirror, I knew my face matched my hair. I snagged a towel from the rack, wrapped it tight around myself, and stormed out of the changing room before my embarrassment shut me down.

The Anna at the front was talking to two people—a couple, by the looks of it—and directed them toward the changing rooms. Breathing was hard. My hand was strangling the bottle of hair dye. "M-miss Anna? My clothes." I handed her the bag and immediately spun on my foot to hurry to the baths.

"Miss? Your name?" I stopped dead, struggling to out my name in the presence of the other two. I managed, and beat feet to where I could hopefully relax.

I didn't know what I was expecting. It was full of people. Naked people.

Why was that what you were supposed to envision when embarrassed?

If anything, my face got hotter at the sight. Even the thick steam couldn't hide the heavy blush, I was sure. I shuffled awkwardly along the enclosed edge of the bath and found an unoccupied corner to slip myself into. I lowered myself into the warm water and made myself as small as possible.

Everyone here was with someone else.

I tried to make the most of it, blotted out the jabber around me, closed my eyes, and soaked. After all of this running and fighting, I hadn't realized how sore I was, or how much I needed this. My aches and pains and fatigue melted away in the steam, washed off in the heat. It was worth the extra fighting to get here.

Minutes, maybe ten or fifteen, passed, and I realized I'd begun to recline. I was low enough that the water lapped at my lower lip. I sat up and, feeling the soaked ends of my hair stick to my skin, decided that I'd wasted enough time. I should actually wash myself as I'd intended.

I made to duck below the water and wet my hair completely, but hesitated. My eyes drifted over to the little black vase-shaped bottle sitting next by my head. I picked it up, unscrewed the cap, and peered inside. A faint smell like blueberries wafted out and tickled my nose, but I couldn't see anything with the bottle being so dark. Still,

it was worth a shot, right?

I set the cap down. Just as I tipped the bottle, about to pour a drop of its contents into my open palm, I was startled.

It was hard to hear the padding of footsteps on the stones. The talking and splashing drown out most every outside noise. So, when a foot descended into the water beside me, it was all I could do not to let out a yelp. Regardless of my efforts, I nearly jumped out of the water.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," said a familiar voice.

Sitting on the lip of the spring above me was Cordelia. "O-oh, no, it's quite alright, I-I just didn't see you," I stammered. She asked if she could stay next to me and I nodded. The Pegasus knight smiled down at me, then lowered herself into the pool at my side. Her hand brushed my shoulder as she settled. It occurred to me that the past few days had been filled with very close contact with several of the Shepherds. If it was possible, I blushed harder.

"What do you have there?" Cordelia pointed to my hand which, crossed over my chest by instinct, still held the bottle of dye.

"Um, it's hair dye," I said, handing it to her. "An Anna sold it to me on the way here."

"Oh, what color is it?" She inspected the inside just as I had.

"Blue. Er, dark blue." I struggled to find a comparison. She handed it back to me. "Kind of like the sky before it goes black at night. Not _dark_ dark, but, well, not exactly sky blue either, so—"

"Like the Captain's hair?" she asked, and I wished she hadn't.

"Erm, yes, actually. Almost identical."

"Were you going to use it?"

"I…" I didn't want to anymore. If it was like Chrom's hair… no, it felt wrong. "I was, but I don't think I will."

"Why not?" Cordelia asked, sudden offense in her voice. "You would look gorgeous with blue hair!"

"I-I don't think so." I reached back for the cap, intending to shut it before an idea popped into my head. I held the bottle out to her once more. "Y-you would look much better than me."

"I doubt it," she protested with a scoff. "It would clash with my eyes, but your eyes would complement it well, as would your outfit." I retracted my hand, pensive. _I don't know_. I had the feeling that she was teasing me. She grabbed my hand with both of hers, then. "I promise you, you will look great. Why would I lie to you?"

She was very passionate. I was overwhelmed. _Still_ … "You wouldn't."

"Exactly." She bore a triumphant expression, then lifted one wet strand of my curling hair, a few shades lighter than hers. "Plus, your curls look so pretty. I think it will work really well, like _waves_. Trust me, would I lead you astray?"

Another question. I lost. With a defeated sigh, I said, "No, you wouldn't. Alright, I'll try it." My reluctance had not diminished. I trusted Cordelia, but not the idea. Just thinking about myself matching with Chrom made me anxious. With her beaming smile, however, it was hard to stay sullen long. A meek smile was all I could offer in return, but it was genuine. I'd just been peer-pressured.

"Splendid!" she said, clapping her hands together. "I'll help you. Now how does it work?"

I gave her the same instructions Anna had given me and she insisted she do it for me. She sat up on the ledge and sat me in front of her. I gave her the bottle and let her go to work. "Just a little bit," I told her, repeatedly, and she assured me that she understood. I apologized, and it went on like this for a while. Every minute or so, my head would dip, or I would shift and she told me to straighten it. I would apologize, she would reassure me, and we would lapse into silence.

Hearing all of the others talking but nothing meaningful pass between us made her feel awkward, I supposed. "Sorry," I said, "for making this awkward. I'm… not very good at talking." I let out a nervous laugh.

"You're fine," she said. I thought she was smiling, but it was hard to tell when she was behind me. "We just don't know much about each other is all. We've never had the chance to just… talk to one another."

I nodded. I'd been with the Shepherds for ages. And how many lasting conversations had I had in that span? I'd spoken with Robin, Zach, and Chrom. Those were the three that came to mind. Anything else was in battle or in passing. Regret welled up in my gut; I've been fighting along these people and I don't know the first thing about most of them aside from what the game told me.

"Plus," she said, working the strands of my hair, giving them light tugs and rubbing the dye over them. It felt like I was about to get a haircut. The thought made me smile. "You keep to yourself a lot. I don't think I've ever seen you out and about with the rest of us. You stick closer to Dylan and Emile, usually. Robert, too, but it seems I've dominated his company recently." She laughed, but I was left to ponder: I stuck close to Dylan, Emile, Zach, and Robert because they were from Earth, too. But like she'd said, Robert was in her company almost all hours of the day he wasn't sleeping, Zach clung near Robin, and the other two… I hadn't been around them for quite some time, excluding the fight yesterday. Dylan was standoffish and intimidated me too much for me to consider him a _friend_ , and while Emile was kind, he had his quirks. He wasn't friendly enough for us to be close, either. And while Zach and Rob were amiable, they had larger targets of their attention. I was alone in this world in my own way, and I supposed that it was my fault.

"I haven't lately," was all I said.

"Did something happen between you?" Cordelia asked. I told her no, I just hadn't seen them. She hummed unconvincingly. She did not speak again, and I did not have the voice to solidify my statement. I let her continue in silence and tried to keep from visibly sulking. "It wasn't a romantic falling out, was it?"

"W-what?" I spluttered in utter disbelief. "No, no of course not! Why would you think that?"

"I'm sorry to assume," the Pegasus knight said, but the grin on her face promised otherwise. "But considering you've been with the Shepherds for going on six months now, well, I thought it was a safe bet that you'd have had some romantic interest by now and, seeing as they're the only people whose company you frequent, and men no less, you could understand my haste."

I laughed dryly. "Yeah, no, I don't think so."

"What about the other Shepherds? Or a man from a passing village, perhaps? Or a woman? You aren't royalty, so there would be no uproar." I said no to all of the above.

She sighed. "Forgive me, but I don't believe you. You expect me to believe that you don't have eyes for anyone, man or woman, in the Shepherds or that we've encountered in our travels?"

I was blushing again. _Just when it'd begun to die down_ , I cursed. She had me thinking. All of the Shepherds flicked through my mind and, I admitted, there were many good-looking men among our ranks—indeed, some women, too. But romantic feelings? "Eh, I…"

My racing thoughts delayed my response, and as I made to shake my head to deny her, the Pegasus knight exclaimed, "Aha! You hesitated. That means there is someone." I looked away, her infectious smile spreading to my face despite my embarrassment. "Now tell me who it is," she pressed. "And be honest."

"There isn't anyone in particular," I said with a shrug. She wanted me to be honest. It couldn't hurt, could it. "But… I don't know, I suppose Lon'qu is rather handsome." She hummed happily at my response. "Stahl, as well. He seems nice." She promised that he was, very much so. "And Dylan and Emile aren't _horrible_ to look at," I joked. She laughed, agreeing. Her enthusiasm was entertaining in its own right, and I found myself continuing without need for her egging me on.

"Frederick," I'd said, "is too imposing. He reminds me of a father, not someone I could date." Cordelia agreed with that, as well, saying that he had in fact chased of several suitors whom he had deemed unworthy of Lissa's and Emm's hands in marriage. We both laughed. I didn't care that those around us were talking anymore—I couldn't even hear them.

That comment about Frederick sparked me into not only talking about people I found attractive, but anybody, and our conversation soon devolved into common gossip. I was not complaining.

She asked me about Ricken, for instance, mentioning that we had something in common, with us both being mages. "He's nice," I said, shrugging, "but too boyish. Too young." What was he, fifteen? "Granted, I'm only nineteen, but…" I shrugged again. "Do you know what I mean?"

"I understand. He still has a lot of growing to do. But he is brilliant for his age. He shows a lot of promise."

"I think so, too." In truth, I had no idea. I had not spoken to the mage even once, but if I recalled correctly, he was good enough in-game. That said, six months in Ylisse dulled my memory of how that all went. "He's been with us for a while now, hasn't he?" I asked. "Almost as long as Robert, right?"

"Longer than me," she said. "I can only assume."

"Speaking of Robert," I said, the mercenary popping into my mind. He was among the few that had yet to become the focus of our ever-shifting conversation. "I suppose he isn't hard on the eyes. Neither him nor Zach are, but he seems… too much like the big brother type. Reckless, too. The both of them. I already worry so much as it is… I don't think I could handle dating one of them with all the stress they would cause." I shook my head at the thought, slowly, wary of her still working fingers, tugging a little harder now. _How long have we been talking_? "Ugh, but neither of them is as bullheaded as the Vaike."

"Oh, dear Naga." I could hear the rolling of eyes in her voice. "Don't you start calling him that, too." I giggled. "You know, I heard the other day—before we charged Galga—that Sully caught him _spying_ on her in the bath."

" _What?_ "

Cordelia nodded with a smirk. "She said she heard him yelp like a dog when Bucephalus chased him out of a bush." She chuckled, I shook my head.

"That's absurd. I can totally see him doing it, though." I vaguely remembered something like that happening in… one of Vaike's supports. "He strikes me as that kind of guy."

"He isn't all bad, though," Cordelia promised. "Yes, he has his… moments, and yes, he's a little reckless and stubborn and isn't exactly the brightest arrow in the quiver." I laughed. "But he's true to his heart. He protects those he cares about, and is strong enough to do it. Even if his way of showing it is rather brash, like constantly wanting to spar the Captain."

"Mm. He hasn't asked in a while, though," I said.

"True, but do you blame him?" she asked, and I shrugged. "With all that's happened… I wouldn't try and challenge Chrom to a fight right now. I don't suspect he would take it well."

"Neither do I." We fell quiet. Cordelia realized it as I did that our conversation had taken a sour turn. She was quicker to act on it.

"Maybe he needs some company to improve his mood." Her voice was light, a slight playfulness to it. I went rigid, too fast for her not to notice. _Does she know_ , I wondered, _that I spent the night in his room? Did she see me leaving?_ Fear gripped me, set off my nerves.

"U-um, why do you say that?"

"Oho!" she chortled. "Why the stutter? Do you not like the idea?"

My panic settled; she didn't know, I was safe and so was he. Her other implication, however, made me blush for a different reason. "I-I'm not entirely _opposed_ to the idea," I said, "I just don't know how much it will help."

"Why don't you try it and see?" Her sudden, spry mischievousness surprised me.

"I don't know about that." I made my tone as dismissive as I could. I purposefully neglected to mention that I had, in fact, already tried. And if his mood improved at all, he wasn't quick to show it.

Still, Cordelia was not defeated. " _I_ think it is worth a shot."

"If you're so confident," I said, turning my head to look at her from the corner of my eye, "then why don't _you_ go and see him." She straightened my head and went back to work.

"Huh-uh." Her response was immediate. I was not quick enough to tease her about it; she beat me to the punch, and disavowed any weight my teasing would have had. "With the crush I used to have on him? No, that would be far too awkward. For me, at least."

"You had a crush on Chrom," I asked, glad to have the attention off of me again.

"Oh, yeah," she said. This time, went I looked back at her, she pulled her hands away from my hair, and I could see that she was smiling. "He was all I thought about for the longest time. It was unrequited, of course—took me even longer to get over that." She sighed, shook her head. "Anyway, it was so bad that I couldn't even speak to him." She laughed. "He'd come up to talk to me and I'd get so tomato-faced, oh, Naga, it was bad."

I smiled at the idea of Cordelia's face matching her hair, stammering and sprinting away from a confused Chrom. "And you think I'll be any better?" I asked. "I'm more of a worrywart than you!"

"True," the Pegasus knight conceded, nodding. "But I also think you have a better chance with him than I ever did."

"W-what?"

"The Captain has a lot of potential, and the strength and energy to use it," she said. "He doesn't need someone like me, or say, Sully, to reel him in and keep him under control. He needs someone like you or, as I've believed for the longest time, Sumia, to guide him and point him in the right direction with encouragement and kindness. I think you can do that for him."

"You've put a lot of thought into this," I observed. "Haven't you?"

"I spent years of my life pining after him," she scoffed. "You'd have to assume I learned something about how he works."

Once again, she went quiet, and I was unable to carry on the conversation. Desperate to keep from dwelling on the thoughts she'd introduce to me, however, I came up with something on the spot. "You said you _used_ to have a crush on Chrom." It was my turn to stir the pot. "Who is it on now?"

Bright red, in an instant. I understood what she meant about being "tomato-faced" now. The rapid transition made my smile into a wide grin, and I watched as her eyes went wide and she pushed away, up to her feet. "I-I'd better go. I've been in her for a while and I'm sure Robert is waiting for me outside. Farewell."

She hurried away, taking swift, shuffling steps to avoid slipping. When she was almost out the door, she called, "Your hair is done, by the way, and it looks great!"

My smile lasted for a moment longer, but faded when my eyes fell to the water and I saw my reflection. Indeed, my hair was much darker, almost black in the water. It really did look like Chrom's color. It was strange to see, and urged forward what Cordelia had said about me.

I wondered, in those last few minutes I spent in the water, was she right?

 **Robert:**

The Anna running the hot springs was annoyed with me, I could tell. I wasn't blocking the line or anything, but standing by her desk, tapping my foot as I waited for Cordy got on her nerves. Either that, or the glares she shot my way every minute or two meant something completely different here.

Each time she looked at me, I responded with a similar glare or a wink, the latter of which seemed to infuriate me further. Before she could act on it, however, some people would stroll in and she would have to mask her fury to serve them. It made for quite the entertaining sight during my wait.

I finally spotted the Pegasus Knight hauling ass out of the women's side of the hot springs, towel clutched tight to her face. Her face looked red, as well. I grinned at her, but she didn't notice, heading straight into a changing room.

She stepped out a few minutes later, no less red, but wearing her usual clothes, armor and all. "Finally," I said with a grin, and I swore that the Anna sighed in relief. "Clothe shopping, then?"

"Yukatas first," she said, raising a finger. Then a second. "Clothes shopping after that. Then weapons third."

"Can we put weapon shopping before clothes?" I asked, a plea in my voice. Clothes shopping always bored the hell out of me.

"Can you please talk about this outside?" Anna said, finally fed up. Cordelia gave her a sour look, then me, while I just shop the merchant a cheeky smirk before conceding. I led the confused Pegasus knight outside, nodded at a man who was walking inside with a woman, their arms linked.

Cordy asked what that Anna's problem was, and I told her I didn't know. Kept straight faced for the lie, too, though under her breath, she muttered something about going back there and I failed to hide a grin.

We passed by the food market area again. This time through, the smells were just as mouth-watering, but I forced myself to turn away. My stomach still hurt from the sheer size of the steak I'd gotten. Even thinking about it… ugh.

Cordy noticed and, at her recommendation, I planned what colors I would choose for my yukata. Seeing as I was still without a coat, I figured the kimono could act as a stand in. A solid, dark red would serve me well. But then I thought back to last night, and those worn by the stage dancers. Theirs all had designs, and the belts were a different color from the actual dresses.

Black would be my usual choice, but I would have to wait. If it was more expensive for some reason, I would have to settle for something else. I wasn't rich, and we still had more shopping to do. I was not looking forward to buying clothes, even though it was a necessity. On the other hand, I was excited to go to a weapon shop. Aside from my sword, which I'd lost, and Mustafa's axe, I had yet to wield another weapon, let alone buy one!

"I hope you got all cleaned up," Cordy said as the Anna hub building came into view. "I don't want them to have to size you up with you smelling like sweat, dirt, and blood."

"Yes, I cleaned up," I said. "What about you? You were in there for quite a while. I don't assume bathing takes that long."

"No," she said, tipping her chin up. "I was talking to Krystal. I wanted to help her come out of her shell."

"What were you talking about?" I stepped in front of her and held open the door.

"Girl talk." I frowned at the simple reply, then shut the door behind both of us after she entered. The inside of the main building was immaculately clean, modernly so. Chairs were lined along the walls of the entryway, and three Annas sat behind a long desk with a line in front of each of them. Each dealt with their line in the same calm voice. One looked over her line and asked us what we were there for, then pointed us to the leftmost line.

"Like what? Boys?" I asked, half-joking, standing behind a middle-aged man with a shining bald spot.

To my surprise, she said, "A little." She giggled. "I asked her who she liked."

"And?" I _had_ to know who little Krystal had the hots for. "Who'd she say? Stahl? Gaius? Chrom? I bet it's Dylan. Or Emile. She's hung out with those guys quite a bit."

"That's what I said. But no, I have to keep it a secret." She poked my nose, tittered. "Sorry, it would be wrong to share that kind of information. I think I got her to trust me, and I'd hate to break it now."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "Whatever. What about you? Did you tell her who you liked?"

"I got out of there before she could ask." I shot a glare her way. "I thought you were waiting for me. And guess what?" She got in my face, sharing a smile with me. "I was right. You're welcome to getting out of there when I could. Who knows how long I would have been in there if she got me on that train of thought."

"Damn. I'm not getting any gossip out of you, am I?" I punched my leg in fake disappointment and made a clicked my tongue.

"Did you really think you could?"

I shrugged. She had a fair point, but it was worth a try. How often did she chat with people? How often did she _tell_ me about it? "Who else am I supposed to get my gossip from?" She just smiled and looked ahead of the line. I stood over most people in front of us, but there were a lot of them. Disheartened, I sighed, and decided to change the subject. "What kind are you planning to get?"

"I'm not quite sure. I've been thinking for a while, but I don't know what they all have; I didn't want to make a decision without being sure, you know?"

"Not even a color?"

"And you have something planned up?"

"Matter of fact," I said, drawing myself up and putting my hands on my waist, "I do. I'm thinking a, uh, black with crimson designs if I can get it. Thinking I'll get the belt-thing in red, too."

"It's called an obi," a woman in front of us interjected. I shot a leer her way, offset by my resounding smirk.

"Wow." Cordy blinked, holding her arms out to recover balance that my announcement supposedly made her lose. "You did put some thought into this."

I sensed a jab in her words and narrowed my eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing." She rolled her eyes, looked away, and crossed her arms. "Just that Krystal and I were talking about how bullheaded and reckless you are, so you putting forethought into something caught me off-guard." Part of me was proud; my shit talking was rubbing off on her! It wasn't that much of an insult, but it was progress, and I vowed, then, that by the time I was done with her, she would be my star pupil in the art of shit talking.

The other part of me, however, knew that to raise her to be my pupil, I needed to teach her. And the only way I knew how to teach was by example. I faked a gasp, covering my mouth. "Gods, the two of you were talking about me?" I asked, a little louder than necessary. "How sweet. I'm touched." Then, much louder than necessary, "And in the bath, no less? Absolutely scandalous!"

Her face went bright red. My job was done. Just in time, too. The last person ahead of us stepped off to the side, and we were at the desk. The Anna behind it, after a cursory glance at Cordy, asked, "You're both here for the free yukata, I presume?"

I nodded for both of us. Cordy was still too flustered, taking sweeping looks over the room.

"Alright." Anna leaned over the desk and pointed to the right, down a side hall that led to a number of other rooms. "You're going to want to head down that hall, go in the fourth door on the right, and from there on, you'll be directed by one of my cousins. She'll tell you everything you need."

"Thank you." I nodded. She returned to behind her desk and waved the next person forward. I motioned for Cordy to follow me, and we made our way down the hall. When we got inside, another line awaited us. We did not pass the time with banter; the line was short enough anyway. Instead, I watched the process: three Annas per person with their measuring tape-things, then a fourth questioning the inspected about coloring, designs, and preferences on sleeve length and whatnot. Meanwhile, another Anna stood in front of the line, directing people to one of the three Anna teams situated in the small, tan-and-maroon colored room.

That last Anna spoke with each person she directed in a friendly, personal tone. She laughed and joked with them as though they were good friends, which I almost believed aside from the fact that every single person she spoke to acted the same way. No matter how much these merchants got around, I found it hard to believe she knew all these people, on such a personal level, no less.

"Look," I said to Cordy and pointed at the walls. From corner to corner, examples of yukatas were hung up in a plethora of colors, designs, and variants. For instance, one that stuck out was a bright, electric blue with yellow lightning bolts streaking down the sleeves. Another was pitch black with a color like smoldering coals at the feet. "How much do you think those are?"

"Too much for us to get them for free," she mused. I agreed.

The time came, I was called up. As I was in front of Cordy, the Anna directed me ahead first. It coincided that a team was made available right away, so I was given little time to speak with her before being coaxed forward. "Hi," I told one of the three holding measuring tapes. They responded simultaneously and went straight to work.

"Stand up straight," one said.

"Arms outstretched," said another.

"Feet parallel, please," said a third.

I stood still. I watched them as they worked with amazing efficiency. Every motion was fluid, with their hands flying around my legs, belly, chest, arms, the whole nine yards. On occasion, I flicked my eyes up to Cordy. She frowned at the Annas swarming me. I sighed like I was exasperated with them, gave her a small grin and shook my head.

At one point, the fourth Anna moved between Cordy and I, cutting off our line of sight, and asked me about the design of my yukata. "Do you have any ideas on you design, color, or themes?" she asked, readying a clipboard. Tucked under one arm appeared to be a thin book.

I told her what I'd told Cordy about colors, and when it came to the designs, she asked for specifics? Preferences?

"Umm…" I ran through my head, trying to pick out any particular design or pattern that I would like to have and wouldn't mind wearing for a long time. My thoughts went to the yukatas hung up on the walls; while the lightning design was cool, it was also kind of tacky, and didn't make sense with my colors. I went further back, to the designs on the yukatas the Shepherds got in the DLC. After all this time, the only one I could remember was Lucina having the Brand of the Exalt on hers. Even further back, broader: what resonated with me? What stuck out? I dug through the catalogue of media I'd consumed, until finally, one massive creation stuck out plain as day.

The lightbulb went off. "Do you have anything I can draw it on?"

"Come back in a couple hours." Anna urged us out the door and past entering customers. "We'll have them done and registered under your names."

"I didn't know your last name was Regan," I mused, reflecting on the name Cordy gave the Annas.

"Well, it isn't something I usually tell people," she admitted and looked down. "Most people only know me as Cordelia."

"I'm glad I'm in the minority, then."

The fresh air outside was a welcome feeling. After being trapped in that measuring room for what had to have been an hour at the least, my lungs were grateful to be in the open. Still, the damp heat made my clothes cling to my skin. I couldn't tell which type of warmth was more unpleasant. Cordy took the lead; I followed her down streets and around corners. Silence followed our conversation about her last name, and I felt a gap, like part was missing. "What, no comment on my name?" I teased.

She shrugged. "Smith is commonplace as a surname among commoners in Ylisse. I'm not terribly surprised that it is yours, as well."

"Wait," I said, taken aback. "How do you know I'm a commoner? I could have been a noble, or at least upper-class." She flashed a grin my way, and I grimaced. "It's the mercenary thing, isn't it?"

"No, we've already been over your mercenary situation," she shook her head. "I can tell because of how you act. You're too brazen, for one. Too unabashed compared to the nobles of Ylisse. But you aren't stuck up, either. You stick your chest out, but keep your chin level."

"Aha."

She turned away again. I couldn't see her face. "You see it a lot in people who live off their actions, like Vaike. Or the Captain. It's part of what makes him so unusual for a noble, much less the prince."

"What's the other part?" I asked, eager for some shit to give the prince. When he was in a healthier state of mind, of course.

"Let's just say he is far from the smartest in our band." A pause. "You're a fair bit brighter than he is."

"You like to talk a lot of shit for someone with a crush on the guy." She shut up after that. The rest of our walk was completed without another word passing between us. I watched her the entire time, checking to see if she looked back at me at all. Not once. We arrived at the clothing shop just when the silence grew unbearable and I began to think I'd gone too far.

"How can I help you today?" the red-headed owner asked when we entered.

"Looking for a solid outfit that I can wear," I said. "I want to change out of these rags." I gestured down to the ripped, dirty clothes that I'd survived with. I didn't want to get rid of them yet—I could always use something to work in, and the experiences I'd gone through with them made me a little sentimental—but I needed a change of clothes while these got washed and stitched up. "Anything will work, honestly."

"And I suspect your girlfriend came with to make sure you picked something classy?" she winked, eyes flicking to Cordy then back to me. My two halves were torn—the part that wanted to agree so I could tease her more, and the part of me that wanted to refute it because I felt bad about pushing her to silence. Instead of either, I gave no response. "Well I have plenty to offer." She waved an arm to the space behind her, where shirts, jackets, pants, and various other types of clothes hung on racks. "Take a look around and let me know if anything catches your eye. Or if you want anything custom fit, I can help with that."

 _Yeah, no thanks_. I didn't want to waste more time here than I needed to. "I'll keep that in mind." I made my way straight to the pants. I didn't care if anything matched, so I just grabbed the first pair that were the right length—I had a belt already, so I would just use that. Next was a shirt; again, I picked the first one that caught my eye. I was a little more caring with the shirt, and looked for something darker, like a red or black, and grabbed the closest one like that. Smallclothes, unimportant, grabbed the first one in arm's reach, and socks followed the trend. I was about to head to the merchant when Cordy caught my arm.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Buying clothes?" I said, uncertain what she meant. I thought it was obvious, what with the bundle in my arms. "Why?"

"These colors are horrible!" she hissed. "Here!" She ripped the pants out of my hands and tried to do the same to the shirt, but I liked the color, and held tight. She frowned, but hung the pants back up where I found them and scanned the rack for some that she found acceptable.

"I don't know why you care so much," I said with a frown. "They're just clothes. I'm probably going to wear my other ones more, anyway."

"Yes they're just clothes," she said, "but you're…" She trailed off and went still. I heard a sigh escape her and her head shook from side to side. "Never mind. You're right. Here." She grabbed a pair of light-brown slacks and tossed them to me. "Get those."

I turned, then hesitated. Cordy was observing the other clothes in the shop, perhaps contemplating buying some herself, but her lips were poised in a frown. I looked away, tried to move, but my feet were stuck. This was weird, awkward. As uncomfortable as I was apologizing like this, I cleared my throat. "Hey… sorry about the Chrom comment. I didn't… I didn't think it would hit you this hard. I should have, though. I know you're embarrassed over the whole thing, and I should have left it alone. So… sorry."

She faced me. Our eyes remained locked for a long time—it must have been terribly awkward for Anna—before she said, "I appreciate the thought, really, but—"

"No," I interrupted. "No buts." I smiled, my voice went quiet, soft as I took a step closer so no one else would hear. She stiffened a little when my hand rested on her shoulder. "I get that you're embarrassed. But there's really no reason to be, and there's no point in hiding it. We all know about your crush; Chrom's the only one who doesn't. But I say take your shot. Someone as beautiful as you has a great shot at Chrom, even if he is a prince. You're gorgeous, Red. He'd be lucky to have you as his girl. Don't worry. It'll work out. And if you ever need a friend to talk to, just let me know okay?"

To match her name, her face was a bright crimson, a new emotion on her face. Not embarrassment, but more than likely a result of it—her brow was furrowed, her eyes narrowed, and her teeth clenched. Her eyes were watery, too. _So she's a wet angry kind of girl_. She tried to look away. I was too quick, and pulled her into a tight hug. "Hey, calm down now. Don't get mad because I called you out. Let me help you. I can help you come up with ways to win that dumb boy's heart. How's that sound? You and I can tag-team his a—er, work together on this. I'll make sure he finally notices. How does that sound?"

She made no sound. Instead, I was caught off-guard when her arms flew around me and hugged me back. The strength with which she squeezed rivalled my own hug in intensity. I was impressed. I cut myself short of vocalizing it, however, when she said, "That sounds like a good idea," in the most muffled, downtrodden voice I'd ever heard from her. If I hadn't heard it from her mouth, I would not have believed that she'd said it.

She patted my on the back twice, then let go. "Buy your clothes, now." She grinned. "We've still got a lot to do. You still need a weapon, for one."

"If you're looking for a weapon," Anna piped in, "My aunt runs a shop selling metalworks down the street from here. Got a huge anvil hanging above the doorway, can't miss it!"

She wasn't lying. I paid for my stuff, tucked the bundle under my arm, and departed for the weapon shop. Half a block down, just as Anna had said, was a shop with a massive wooden anvil design hanging above the door and the words _Smith Anna's Steel Masterworks._

"Real humble," I muttered. It was a large building already, twice as wide as the others around it and, though I couldn't tell the length, I presumed the ratio to be the same. It looked nothing like the medieval smithy I'd been expecting from the outside, however. It was based on Japanese architecture, if I had to guess. The anvil could have been there to show the uneducated, like myself.

"I think that's the point," Cordy said, opening the door. A bell jingled above us as we entered.

A lantern was fixed on the wall beside the door inside, and another on the counter at the other end of the room. The room itself was outfitted with that counter and two tables between it and us. A long rack of shelved weapons lined the wall to our right, and the counter bore smaller arms like daggers.

What caught my attention, however, was the calendar. I assumed it was a calendar, anyway. Pinned up to one of the wooden wall bearings was a long scroll with riddled with a grid of boxes, each filled with four characters that I could barely read without my glasses, including a number.

"Hello!" the Anna at the counter said, peering past one of the five or six customers in here aside from us. "Welcome to my mother's shop! I'll be there to help you in a moment."

Cordy turned to me. "Have you put much thought into what you'll be getting? Will you be getting a broadsword again? Or are you thinking of getting something new… friend?"

I ignored her awkward pause. I ignored everything she said, in truth. I was too distracted by this calendar. The sight of a documented date system surprised me, as did the format of it. A single long scroll cut into four sections then segmented further into more squares than I cared to count. Thankfully, the numberings did it for me, going from 1 to 90 in each category. All four sections were labelled, too, but I could not read the scrawling characters. They all had designs, but I could only piece together the cherry blossom-themed section to be spring. The others—birds, pegasi, and dragons—were lost on me. My best guess was that dragons meant summer because hot.

"Rob?"

I blinked back to the present. "What? Sorry, I wasn't-I was looking at this." I waved my hand at the funky calendar. "It's all weird."

"How do you mean?" She walked up beside me. "Do you mean the language? I can't read it either, but it seems fairly standard. See?" She pointed at the cherry blossoms section. "Here's Flostym. Then here, Avistym." That was the bird one. She moved her finger down the scroll as she spoke. "Then this is Pegastym, and Wyrmstym."

"I'm… sorry, what? What are those?"

Cordy gave me the most demeaning look. "Are you serious?" Her lips parted in surprise when she realized that I was. "Maybe you aren't fully recovered. Or have you just never looked at a calendar before?"

"I have just… not one like this." It occurred to me that this was a normal calendar not only here, but in Ylisse, aside from the language barrier. I was the strange one in this equation. Based on the furrowing of Cordy's brow, I had some explaining to do. Which meant I had to come up with something on the spot. "I, uh, well, we don't use calendars like this where I'm from."

"Where are you from, by the way?" she asked. Her arms crossed and she assumed a stern position. "You've never said, but your accent, as faint as it is, isn't like any I recognize."

"I'm, uh…" _Quick, think of something! Where's somewhere far away?_ I blurted the first Fire Emblem Country that came to my mind and, as soon as it passed my lips, I prayed to Naga that it was part of this world. "I'm from Thracia."

"Thracia?" Her tenseness dropped away and she blinked. "On Jugdral?" Inside, I was flying. My relief was through the roof that I picked a logical place that she knew. _Oh, you ingenious bastard, you!_ I nodded. "That far north!"

"I believe I told you I was from up north already, yes?"

"But I assumed you meant somewhere like Ferox, or, I don't know some obscure region in northern Ylisse! No wonder you don't use the same calendar."

I grinned. Full circle. "Speaking of the calendar, I'm assuming this is the full year, yeah?" After her disbelief passed, she nodded. "Yeah, so we have 12 months instead of 4. For instance, when's your birthday?"

"The 36th of Avistym."

"Okay. Why is it called Avistym, anyway? That's such a strange name for a month."

"It's Valentian for Season of Birds," she said.

"Ah." I traced along the numbers with my finger until I found it. "And this is the summer one?" She nodded. "Then that'd be… July 6th in my calendar."

"And why's that called what it is?" she asked, I suspected in response to my question.

"It's named after some guy named Julius," I said.

"As in the Dark Scion, Julius?" she asked, shocked. All I could do was nod and assume she knew what she was talking about so I could pretend to do the same. "It's so strange that he has a month named after him."

"Powerful people like to name things after themselves," I said, shrugging. How far could I bullshit this? I'd done pretty well so far, and if I had to, I knew I could drag this out. But did I want to? "But yeah, you were born on July 6th. I was born on October 22nd—" I received another befuddled look at this month's name, which I would teach her later, along with the others if I had time, "—which in your calendar would be…" Did September have 30 days or 31? "The 52nd of Pegastym I believe. Oh, that's today." We'd been here for almost 6 months already. I'd been away from home for half a year. That realization hit me square in the chest, the air knocked from my lungs. Meanwhile, Cordy was smiling over my announcement.

"It's your birthday?" she queried.

"Apparently." I was 18 now. Strange. Hot springs in a fictitious variation of Japan were about the last place I expected to be when I legally became an adult.

"Happy birthday, Rob!" I expected—hoped—for a hug or something, but she slugged my shoulder instead. _Ow, she has a good arm_. I noted that for later. I thanked her, but not for the punch. It left me sore, to my surprise. "That means I owe you a gift, doesn't it? Unless, of course, you don't do that in Thracia." I narrowed my eyes at her. Was she joking. With her smile, I could not tell.

"We do give gifts, yes. I'm pretty sure most countries do. Do you have any idea?"

She looked over her shoulder. "I think I have one, yes. Come on." She spun me around by the shoulder and dragged me over to the counter. The Anna was waving us over. She looked younger than the Anna's we'd encountered thus far; younger than me or Cordy, even. At the most, she had 15 winters under her belt.

"What can I help you with today?"

Cordy leaned on the counter. "It's this lucky guy's birthday today," she said, jerking her thumb back at me. "I was wondering if you have anything a mercenary like him would find suitable for battle."

The Anna looked up at me with bright eyes and a bright smile. "Happy birthday," she said. "I hope you've had a good one so far?" I nodded. I had no complaints. "I'm glad to hear that. Well, if you look behind the glass here, we have a few options you could choose from. These are mostly short swords and daggers. Our larger options, like Armorslayers, Rigellian Zweihänders, and Swordreavers, are hung up over there if you're interested." She pointed to her right and my eyes were drawn that way.

Short swords were nice and all, but not to my tastes. Someone like Gaius could make it work, but I was too big to be nimble. I needed reach, the kind not offered by these long knives.

Cordy followed me over to the array of longer weapons and watched as I drank in the sight. Some of these were too large for my liking, like the Zweihänder Anna had mentions, but the hand-and-a-half swords, like the longswords and the Swordreavers caught my attention. All of them were labelled, but once again in that scrawling language that had been on the calendar.

I studied all of them that held my eyes. I did a mental measure of the blade length, looked at the shape of the guard, handle, and pommel, and did a mock measure of how my hand would fit around the grip. There were too many to choose from! Cordy was getting impatient by the time I made my decision.

In the end, I called Anna over to tell me about a double-edged longsword with a long, red-wrapped hilt. The blade was pristine and clean of blemishes, and ended in a sharp, angled point. "Ah," she said. "The zanbato. A good choice. Effective against mounted foes because of its reach. Are those something you fight often?"

"Hopefully not, but you never know." I said. "How much is it?" I reached for my coin purse, but Cordy grabbed my wrist. She shook her head. She was already fishing out coins as Anna listed the price. They exchanged a few words, but I tuned it out. I was too busy smiling like a dumb fool as my heart melted.

Anna, bless her heart, used her entire body to lift the blade off of its rack. I offered to help her, but she shook it off, saying it was her job and that she'd done it before. I relented, and looked over to Cordy. She was smiling. "Happy Birthday, Rob."

"Thank you so much," I said, and pulled her into a bear hug. Were it not for her breastplate, I would have squeezed as hard as I could, but I didn't want to hurt her. "I'm so glad to have a friend like you, girl."

I let go of her when I heard Anna slide the zanbato into its black sheath. _Oh, it's perfect_. This was the best birthday I'd had in a while.

 **Dylan:**

A part of me was glad to be leaving the Outrealm. I couldn't fly here without causing a panic over a false attack or something. I didn't have anything that I needed to pack, so I spent the entire day lounging before following the others to the crowded plaza before the gate. This late at night, it was more open, though, so we had room to move comfortably, and I could stretch my wings.

While we waited for the last few Shepherds to regroup with us, Frederick did a preemptive headcount and Robin talked with Virion and Chrom over some last-minute course plotting.

I had a visitor of my own. With my back against the wall and my head turned the opposite direction, I did not see her coming. A hand clapped my back—I had the dignity and resolve not to jump… not too high, anyway.

I whirled around in the same second. An orange bird twitted in my face, and behind it, a white-haired woman in dark red robes. "Hello," she said.

"Mia."

"Come now," the dancer said. "We both know that isn't my name."

I blinked. My arms uncrossed and moved to my waist as I made a feeble attempt to read her smug expression. "Pardon?"

"I came to a realization last night, after we'd parted ways." She leaned against the wall where I'd been, taking my place lest I stand beside her. I did anyway, so as not to look suspicious. Also, with as big as I was, having her between me and a wall incriminated me.

"Straight into it, eh?"

She ignored my remark. "I know you are privy to more knowledge than you let on. You know my real name. You know the truth of your little group and their future. You know everything about the world you're returning to… don't you?"

I crossed my arms again. I was not going to deny what we both recognized as the truth, but I would not give her any leverage in this discussion. My surprise, present as it still was, would not show through my stoic mask. "What are you getting at?"

Once again, I went disregarded. "See, I met one like you already." She did not even look at me. Her bird did, however, so I kept eye contact with it instead. "One not so stingy with their secrets. They spread them willingly, telling all of us the stories of our worlds and our futures, of events that had yet to pass."

"Are you—"

"This Summoner fought in a war that was not their own, in a world that meant nothing to them before they arrived. They told me that they were not the only one, as well. That many like themselves had come to the connecting world to protect the innocent. They made a selfless sacrifice, and left their world behind. I was inspired by their bravery and selflessness." The bird hopped on her shoulder, then took off, flying a wide circle around us before settling on her now upraised finger.

She smiled at me. "I apologize for coming off as so brash when we first met. Your methods were unorthodox, but now I see that your intentions were pure. Selfless. I see now that you and the Summoner are not so different. You are one of the same, from a world far unlike any of these Outrealms."

She pushed off the wall, stood in front of me, mirroring the position I was loathe to enact. Her bird flitted back to her shoulder, and her hands clasped in front of her. "Thank you, Dylan, on behalf of you group. I know not why you keep your secrets from them, but I know that they would be grateful for what you are doing for them. For what you will do for them."

"I don't know what you think I'm doing," I began, "but—"

"Thank you for your sacrifice." _Goddammit, woman, let me spea—_

A quick peck of her lips on my cheek brought my thoughts to a grinding, skidding, sparking halt. I was stunned, too unresponsive to will the growing heat from my face. "W-what, hold on… what was that?"

"A parting gift," she said. "I believe this is the last we'll be seeing of one another. With that in mind, can I ask a favor of you?"

"I…" How could I stop her?

"Open up to your friends. They will be more willing to accept your help if they know you're trying to." With that, she turned and walked away. Her retreating back and the bird turned to face me as she rounded the corner was the last time I ever saw the silver-haired dancer.

"I'll keep that in mind, Micaiah."

 **Emile:**

"Hey!" Anna jogged up to me, no longer in a yukata, but with a packed-full backpack strapped over her shoulders. A Levin Sword hung at her waste. I eyed the weapon with caution, but looks up when she said, "Gimpy, catch." I raised my arms in time to catch a bundle of thin yellow cloth that she launched at me. "You talked to the prince yet?"

"I was actually just about to," I said, gesturing to where Chrom stood, four or five meters ahead of me. He was talking with Frederick and Robin, the last of who had her cloak drawn tight around herself and her hood pulled up.

"Don't you think you should hurry?" she asked. "You're about to leave without me."

"Okay. Would you like to come with me and introduce yourself?" I offered.

"Seems kinda tedious considering… you know." She grinned. "But sure. I should be polite." She gave me a hearty slap on the back to get me going and followed close behind me. Several of the Shepherds that were here gave me a wide range of looks, varying from wide eyes, raised eyebrows, and narrow-eyed glares. Frederick gave me one of the latter when I approached, and the other two leaders followed his gaze.

"Emile," the prince regarded me. Robin faced me, but did not say anything from beneath her hood. I could not see the majority of her face because of the shadows it cast. She was frowning, however.

"Greetings."

"Hello," Anna said, standing by my side.

"My apologies, ma'am, but we're rather busy, and have no interests in purchasing any of your wares." Frederick rattled the phrase off as if rehearsed, with no inflection aside from irritation.

"Actually, your highness and your knightliness," Anna said, taking a bow, "I've come with an offer of a different kind." Chrom gave her a blank look, Robin put her hand in her sleeves. Frederick frowned. "I've heard that your troupe is in a bit of a rough situation. Low on money, low on supplies, and low on morale. But with my help, I can fix two of those issues. With luck, correlation will fix the third."

"You're… offering to join the Shepherds?" Chrom asked. The merchant nodded. "What's the catch?"

"No catch," she said, swiping her hands. All present exchanged uncertain glances. "Hard to believe, I know," Anna continued. "But you've saved my life once and risked your life to protect the place of my family's business. I can't just let that go unrewarded. So, I offer you my service for the normal work charge. I can run your financials, secure supplies, or handle anything even slightly money-related. You have my word as a Secret Seller."

"I'm sorry," Chrom began as soon as she was finished, "but I have no interest in allowing a woman of whimsy into my—" Robin cut him off with a sharp smack to the shoulder. He looked at her and she looped an arm around his.

Frederick eyed her down. Robin pulled Chrom close and whispered in his ear. He responded in the same volume, leaving Anna and I under their faithful knight's silent scrutiny. "I think I sold my case pretty well," Anna murmured with a small smile. "Don't you?"

"I think you did, yes." From a personal standpoint, I saw nothing wrong with her delivery. Perhaps it was spoken too much like a business proposal, but I theorized that said delivery was what "sold" it, as it were.

"We could use someone to handle our financials, yes," Robin said. "However, I hope you understand that for the first two weeks, we will withhold your pay in order to ensure your allegiance."

"Of course," the merchant said. "That's just business."

"It's settled then," Robin said.

"You are packed already, yes?" Frederick's expression had not changed, but he ceased boring his eyes into our souls. Instead, he swept the angry orbs over her person, spying for any baggage or luggage in which she would keep her things. He noticed the straps of her backpack and nodded.

"Ready to go."

"Then we shouldn't delay. Shepherds!" All of us stood to attention at the Great Knight's booming voice. "Get in formation and move to the Gate. By our estimations, it will be midday when we cross back into Ylisse. We will march until dark and camp wherever we find ourselves. You all know your corresponding duties."

We all sorted ourselves. Robin instructed Anna to stick near me for now, until the tactician formatted her into all of the plans. I lamented the lack of a weapon as I stood near Kellam and Vaike, who both had theirs drawn and ready. All I had in my possession was the bladed half of the lance snapped by the Risen yesterday. Anna noticed and promised me that she'd find me something good as payment for getting her into the Shepherds.

"Why are you so eager to be a part of this? It's war?"

"War is business," she replied easily. "And truth be told, I'm a bit weary of selling fruits and clothes. I've been itching to get into this bloody business. You'll have to forgive me, but the prospect excites me. Now be careful. Returning through the Gate can be a little rough."

I ignored the vaguely psychopathic comments and focused on the approaching whirlpool of light. I said one silent goodbye to the Outrealm before I passed into the Gate's bridge of space and time.

The bluish-white light enveloped me, crushed me, and I swore I heard giggling before my consciousness faded to black.

 **I'm back! And just before the end of the year. Yeah, it's been a while, but I think I'm going to stick with longer breaks between uploads and dropping bombs like this one and the last few. This style suits me best and lets me get a solid point out, if that makes sense.**

 **Anyway, I don't have much to say with this one, except thank you for reading this far if you did. Please, leave a review to let me know what you thought and any criticism or points of interest you had. Thanks again.**

 **Also, a little bit of news. Stormrider and I have set up a discord server. It mainly focusses on Fractured and Burned, but anything can be discussed. I'll leave my Discord in the bio, so if you're interested, add me, and I'll invite you to the Grain Belt.**

 **The Oats have been harvested.**


	28. Chapter 27: Change of Pace

**Fire Emblem is owned by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.**

 **If I owned it, my luck in Heroes would be better—please, IS, I'm begging you, just let my ice girlfriend come home! Please!**

 **?:**

"Mikhalus. About time you arrive," Gangrel said as I strolled into the room. I didn't dignify him with a response. I doubted he noticed. He was staring into his reflection, ensuring his crown and armor were on straight. My eyes narrowed.

The steel plates, small and spread out over his usual bright attire, looked disparate on him, despite being painted in his colors. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"Have you not been briefed?" He tilted his chin back and primed his collar to ensure that the fluffy black hood framed his head. "I'm heading toward the frontlines."

I blinked, shook my head, pinched myself on the leg. The pain was real, I was awake. This was actually happening. "So the King deigns the battlefield worthy of his presence." I crossed my arms. As amusing as the anomaly was, I was perturbed at having had my time wasted. "Was this really all you called me back to Galga for?" My hand hovered above the pouch of warp dust tied to my belt.

"That, and I need an escort," he said. "Ever since that exalted whore killed herself, people have been rebelling. Rioters are banning together to raise hell in our markets, all because 'I'm fighting on the wrong side of a war' or that I'm 'causing more suffering than I'm avenging.'" He scoffed at that, then spun around. "How do I look?"

"Hideous." He scowled. If he was about to refute my claim, he was not given the chance. "You are aware that I have an army to lead, yes? Your army?"

"My darling Aversa is more than capable of leading my forces for a few days while you escort me to her side."

"That witch isn't half the tactician I am. I doubt she's managed to hold the line since I've left." The king glared at me, but I did not heed him. "As we speak, the Feroxi are sure to be pushing against our forces, who do not have the direction to lead them through the adversity of forces with a home advantage or the murder of their morale from Emmeryn's suicide."

"Mikhalus, you've been here for an hour," Gangrel, growled. All precedent of peace and quiet between us was vanquished by my remarks. It never got old, watching him or the witch get riled up because they couldn't take criticism or the truth. "Now shut up. If you're so eager to get back at playing war, then make sure our convoy is ready so we can leave."

I had half a mind to warp back to the frontline without him and take command back from Aversa. It was demeaning, in a sense, to have that woman leading my men, but I did not see much of a choice here. Either I warp back and have him whine about my disloyalty when he inevitably did arrive at the frontlines, or I deal with a slightly more amiable king for 2 days. Both options estimated about 2 or 3 days of suffering on my end, but the (sadly) more opportune path involved _not_ pissing off the king and leaving him to fend for himself.

Besides, I had no stock in this war. The longer I was away, the more he lost. This was not my fight.

"Very well. Hurry up and join me downstairs. I'd rather not wait any longer than I have to."

He grumbled a useless platitude about patience and war, but I disregarded it. All he knew of war was the blood it shed. He would dance in the blood, but he'd never witnessed it firsthand. An idea sparked in my mind. I smiled uninhibitedly as I shut the door behind me and went down the stairs. He was coming to the front line. With luck, I could show him the dirty business of war in full force, with a torrent of blood, mud, and suffering that would turn his Highness inside out.

I let myself chuckle at that. I did not hide my smile, nor my amiability. My mood had improved. This alleviated the soldiers' stress as intended. Regardless of my expression, they rearranged into proper line and waited for me to stop in front of them. They did not stand rigid or shaking, however. They stood at attention, saluting me in the standard Plegian way of an "ok" sign over their right eyebrow.

"Everything is ready?"

"Yes sir," a soldier wearing a dragon-like helmet and a short, tan cape that fell to the small of his back.

"Brief me on the specifics of this escort."

The same soldier—a wyvern captain—stepped forward. "Sir, we will be taking these two sleighs here. You and his Majesty will be travelling alongside myself and Captain Salem. You and his Majesty will be sharing separate sleighs."

"Oh thank Grima."

He continued. "We will stop tonight at Ivra, and leave at daybreak the following morning. Estimated time of arrival is twilight two days from now."

I nodded, crossed my arms. "Which one of you is Captaim Salem?" A woman at the end of the line stepped forward. She was dressed much like the captain in front of me, albeit with a navy-blue cape instead of tan. Both had the standard, lean-muscle build of a weathered wyvern rider, but neither looked very old. Both were younger than me if I had to guess. I turned to the male Captain. "And what is your name?"

"Captain Yael, sir."

"Captain Yael. Good." I looked over to Captain Salem. "You, miss Salem. You'll be sharing a sleigh with me."

"Yes sir."

The doors to the castle flung open and Gangrel strode out wearing a long, sand-yellow robe that dragged on the stones behind him. "Are we all set?" the king asked.

"Yeah, we're good to go. I assume you've been told the whole plan?"

"Are you kidding? I came up with it!" he chided, then made his way over. "I hand-picked these two because I thought we could trust them. Plus," he shrugged, "I figured we could use a little more firepower out there." He clapped me on the shoulder. "Now, let's get a move on."

I crossed over to Captain Salem's side before Gangrel had the chance to protest. I cast a glance her way, and looked back to the King, who's smile had died. Still, he climbed onto the sleigh and sat his royal ass down while our two Captains mounted their wyverns and prepped them for takeoff.

"You're welcome," I said to Salem, who did not respond, but took her wyvern's reins and urged the beast into the sky. I smiled as we left Galga behind.

* * *

 **Dylan:**

The air tasted different in Ylisse. It may have been a fog of war clouding my senses when we entered the Outrealm, but I hadn't noticed at the time how starkly the atmosphere clashed with the air here. There, it reeked of people and warmth and incense. Here, it was more natural. The clear, crisp air of the ocean breeze as we sailed from the Outrealm Gate cleared my mind, but only enough for it to be left amid what food for thought Micaiah had given me.

Our ship docked at the southernmost tip of Ylisse, two days later. According to Frederick, there had been no time slippage during our stay in the Outrealm. Our two days there translated to two days here. Four days since we disappeared. A week since the Exalt died.

Chrom seemed in no better mood. He at least conversed, now, though it was about war and where we were headed now. His eyes never shifted from their deep glare, his hands never loosened from tight fists.

My boots hit Ylissean soil, and I was hit with a strange homeliness. I was glad to be back, like coming home after a long trip. How long had it been since I was last in Ylisse? It must have been a month, by now. But… this was not my home. I could not think of it that way.

"Oh, it's good to be back," Robert said, strolling down the boardwalk past me. Most of the Shepherds, myself included, filtered off the ship and congregated in a wide crowd around the port, waiting for our captains to guide us.

The sight of our military band drew more than a few eyes.

Robin came down the ramp alongside Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa, drawing further attention. Murmurs of surprise at seeing the Ylissean Prince's party after our "disappearance" passed over us. People approached, questioned, praised, made of themselves an overall nuisance. I tuned them out. Micaiah warned me about closing myself off from my… my _friends_. Not strangers. I did not have to allow them any quarter, nor any decency.

I scowled at the civilians. The wind rippled their loose, green clothes. A young girl stared at my wings. I levelled my glare at her, then at the adults by her side. They backed up.

"Hey, now, Tweety," a sly voice said behind me. A hand clapped my shoulder, and I looked to see Gaius's shock of orange hair. "Calm down, they're just happy to see us. We've come to the rescue."

"That's what they think?" I asked. He nodded. I hummed. Looking over them all again, I saw the admiration, yes, and the praise, yes, that too, but in addition, I saw the relief. The joy that pervaded them. Because there was no doubt in my mind that they'd heard the news, just as we had on the ship. Plegia was coming. They'd seized the opportunity of our disappearance and were pressing south.

Now we were here. Their prince was here. His warriors were here. Hope had returned to the Ylissean people. Their homeland was saved.

A small part of me wanted to share in that naïve, blind hope. All things considered, we were just one group. A small group, none of us masters in our field, fighting against a massive invading force. We were a continent away from our allies. Hope could only bring us so far.

The royals took the lead of our party. Chrom and Robin took the front, Frederick escorting Lissa a beat behind him. They parted the crowd and pushed through. People cheered us on further as we past. Some of the Shepherds indulged in the fanfare, waving their arms and smiling. The majority, in fact. The few that didn't were us Earthlings with the exception of Robert, Chrom, Lissa, Frederick, Robin, and Miriel. Calliope and Libra offered calm smiles, but their responses were otherwise more mellow. Our cavalcade went uninhibited as we passed the city gates. _Back on the road_.

The cheering had begun to hurt my ears.

 _Now this is more my speed_. Nothing but green fields, dirt roads, and copses of trees scattered about the land. I looked to the sky. Sparse, puffy white clouds in the vast blue expanse. Little wind. Ideal for flying.

My wings twitched. I ached to take flight. The last time I'd been able to was in the fight against the Outrealm Risen, and even then I had Robin atop me so my movement was restricted. On the boat, I'd had the longest opportunity to explore the salty air, but once again, Robin placed a limiter. It was best I not take fly so as to not "scare the sailors". I'd been about to protest, but Micaiah's damned remark made me have second thoughts. We struck up a deal that I could spread my wings after we'd gotten into the open, clear of where people may be frightened.

Now we were out in the open, our destination was an entire day's travel away, and the weather couldn't be better!

"Give me some room," I said, spreading my wings and arms. I gave a content sigh at the feeling and crouched low. It felt good to shift. A pump of adrenaline; energy me, then I closed my eyes. Gods, it felt _good_ to shift after so long. I was smiling as I transformed.

When I opened my eyes, I stood above everyone. My eyes were sharper—I could see everyone's face react to the most minute detail, including Nowi's beaming smile as she pulled her dragonstone free. No doubt she'd had the same restrictions as me, and I couldn't imagine how happy she was to finally be able to let her confined energy loose. Unlike me, she stepped to the side and transformed in a brilliant light. Panne did the same, and soon, Nowi and I were trailing through the sky while the taguel strode openly beside the column of Shepherds.

On the ground, Frederick was saying something to Robin. I couldn't read lips too well, but the knight did not look happy. Robin's expression was hidden by her hood. Chrom, looked none too happy, either, though, so I had to assume she bore a similar face.

I spent no further worry on them. I was flying, finally. My mind was clear to roam any thoughts that it chanced upon. The gentle crosswind ruffled my feathers as I soared above my comrades. My _friends_ , I corrected, gazing down at them.

Were they really?

Micaiah seemed to think so, but I'd never done anything to draw them in. I'd done the opposite. I pushed them out. I had no time for connections here. Getting home was my priority. The fewer bonds I had tying me down here, the better.

But I'd lingered at Lissa's door after Micaiah left. I'd stayed and tried again to ease her sorrow. I broke character. I let her in. At the time it was nothing. I thought nothing of it.

Micaiah's words changed that. That parting spiel stuck in my head, dragging with it that short conversation at the princess's door. I tried to forget them, but the scenes came back, resurfacing like logs in water. No matter how many times you push them down, they bob right back up, smacking you in the face.

I was not selfless. The priestess saw too much good in my actions, read the wrong clues. I wanted the royals back in action so we could get a move on. That was all.

 _I stood in front of her for an awkward eternity_. Why did I stay? _"The best I can offer is a shoulder to cry on_." Why did I say that?

 _Nerves. Blurting to ease the awkwardness_ , I told myself. _You were trying to expedite her improvement because Micaiah wasn't able to_. I pushed the memories under the surface. I closed my eyes and let myself drift through the air. They would be back. Soon.

When I opened my eyes again, I put all my effort into focusing on literally anything else.

* * *

 **Emile:**

My leg hurt.

All this marching brought back the ache, but I didn't remember it being that bad. My face was twisted into a grimace with each step.

Not that I was able to focus on it much. My attention was torn between the pain in my leg, and the constant, _unceasing_ jabber of Anna talking to me.

I appreciated her help after we passed through the gate. She'd kept me on my feet when I stumbled out of the vortex and my leg felt like it shattered along its length. Told me that it was normal for pain to intensify when we left. Said the Outrealms' pacifying effect lessened pain.

"That's probably why you didn't pass out from the Levin Sword," she'd said with a cheery disposition.

"Noted."

Every now and then, her speaking was useful, but most of it was her talking to herself and forcing me to listen by burden of proximity. "It's been quite some time since I was last in Southtown—been so long in the Outrealms," she said. "But as long as the marketplace is still as booming as last time I passed it through, I should be able to fix myself a couple horses and a wagon for them to pull. Need some place to pack my goods, you know? Especially if I get everything on this list. This bag is crammed full." She hefted the pack for emphasis. How her small-self supported such a load was beyond me. She cast a look my way alongside a grin, then turned her attention back to the paper in her hand.

Robin had given her a sheet of our financial state, as well as supplies and things we needed. Seeing as we needed to leave most of our things behind when we fled Plegia, it was a substantial listed including, but not limited to—based on the peeks I took over Anna's shoulder:

Weapons for most of the Shepherds, a storage wagon, a new command wagon, and the horses to pull them.

"The carriages will be a cinch," she said, "but the horses will be the problem. I should be able to find a stable willing to sell what you need, but I don't know if you all have the funds for all of this and feed and dress for all of them _and_ what we have."

"Mm."

"Buuuut, I do have wares of my own on hand. I could pull some strings and sell at an elevated price. Just pull the amount from the funds pool directly after it's more stable. Either way, the financial station is a little tough, even for me. I can get you guys out of it, though. Like I said, just gotta pull some strings. You've got a master merchant on your side, after all." She winked.

"I see. Do you always discuss your business plans with the open air?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"I'm not discussing it with the open air," she said, shaking her head. "I'm informing you of the burden you placed on me for joining your group. All this business and marketing—ugh, I don't think the way to welcome your newest recruit. If this is how you always do it, I'm surprised anyone stuck around!"

"You asked to join!" I retorted, then scowled at her wry grin. "What?"

"Are you in a mood?" she asked with a teasing tone.

I blinked, shook my head. "What?" I asked again.

"Are you in a mood," she repeated verbatim, albeit without the teasing and instead dry and humorless. Very uncharacteristic of her. The color and personality returned in her next remark, though. "You seem grumpy. What's got you in a tizzy, Lizzie?"

"M…m…my name is not Lizzie."

She groaned. Her shoulders slumped and her arms went limp at her sides. "Ugh, sometimes you're dreadfully boring. It was a figure of speech—what's eating at you?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Nothing is ea—ah, I see. Nothing. I'm just r…r…rather perturbed."

"Oh?"

"You've not s….stopped talking since we've arrived here," I stated. "As interesting as it all is, my leg is in dreadful pain, and I would appreciate some quiet."

"Ohhhhh," she said, like she understood. Was she really going to stay silent for a time? "Well, noise doesn't make stuff hurt." Nope. I frowned. "Unless it's your ears, and I happen to think my voice is pleasant enough to prevent such a thing." I leered at her from the corner of my eye.

"Then can you at least talk about something other than buying and selling?" I suggested. "I'm bored of hearing—ow, gods dammit." This damned leg was such an annoyance.

She gave me a half-grin. "Yeah, alright. Hold on." She slowed her pace and pulled her pack off. She swung the overfull bag in front of her and reached her hand deep into one of the pockets. Her tongue poked out of her mouth as she delved into the depths of her belongings. I watched her with, admittedly, subtle curiosity. I had to wonder what filled that much space, and how or what the merchant brought with her. She said she had wares with her, but she had to have personal belongings, too. What was the ratio there?

The other Shepherds were passing us before she stopped rummaging. "Oh." Her eyes brightened. "Found it." She withdrew her arm and swung the pack back over her shoulders. In her hand was a small vial—dark green with a cork in the top of it.

"How didn't that come open?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Drink this." The red-head held the vial out to me. I stared at it, but took it after a moment of suspicious consideration. "It would have fetched me a nice price in town, but if your leg is bothering you," she shrugged and made this sound like a massive inconvenience, "then I suppose I could give it to you at a minimized price. 1 gold."

I did not uncork the bottle, nor did I hand over the gold. As much as it would have been a nicety, not fretting over this pain, I was unsure. I did not doubt Anna's integrity. As the Secret Seller, she had a reputation to uphold, I could only assume. But, if funds were really as tight as she was saying, and she was needing to sell her own wares, I couldn't take any of it.

"No." I handed the bottle back. "Sell it in town. I'll manage."

She hummed and slipped the potion or whatever it was into her pocket. Her smile did not leave or even fade, but she stopped speaking for quite some time. At that rate, I was left to focus on the walking. It was difficult to think with the pain in my leg.

By the time night fell, I regretted two things: turning down the medicine, and asking Anna to stop talking, because my leg was going to be the death of me and the least I could use was a distraction from it instead of this silence.

* * *

 **Robert:**

Zach gave me a barely perceptible glance when I unrolled my bedroll and sat down across the fire from him. He was sitting on a sideways log, one sword leaning sheathed against it and the killing edge I'd given him drawn and in his lap. By the glow of the fire, he rubbed a cloth along the length of the blade until it gleamed. The shadows made his expression unreadable. I paid it no mind and took out my new Zanbato. The blade looked clean, but I had nothing better to do, and went to work polishing the blade. It was a way to keep my hands busy when I cleared my throat. "So," I said, "what happened back in the Outrealm?"

He seemed, of all things, taken aback by my question, which was the most dynamic reaction I would see from him for the remainder of our conversation. He composed himself in seconds. "We shouldn't talk about this in the open."

"No one will hear us," I said. "They're all tired and thankful to be able to sleep in Ylisse, even if it is on the ground. Long as we aren't shouting, they won't catch a thing." I assumed as much, anyway. I was bone-tired. Seeing as I was hardier than many of our comrades, I found it a safe guess that they were even more exhausted. No one wanted to do guard duty tonight, but when Zach volunteered for first watch, I seized my opportunity to start the conversation that I missed in the Outrealm.

The myrmidon was silent for a moment. "Fine," he said. "What was the question?"

I paused, and leaned forward with narrowed eyes. "What _really_ happened between you and Robin?" He sighed, and opened his mouth without looking up.

"I hurt her."

"I know that. But why?" I asked. "Look," I looked back at my sword and returned to polishing the blade. "I don't know you too well, but Robin did. And she trusted you. A lot." I glanced up, noticed him wince. "And she's pretty smart."

"Yeah." His voice was soft, more than a little wounded.

"And she wouldn't put her trust into somebody who couldn't be trusted. So I know you're a good guy. Better than me. And I know you wouldn't just strangle your girlfriend. Something had to make you lash out."

His eyes shot up, wide and intense. "Robin didn't do anything," he said immediately.

I held my hands out to calm him. "I didn't say she did." I stopped a frown from showing. "I'm just saying, it's unusual. There has to be more." I pretended to turn my attention back to my sword. I absentmindedly rubbed the cloth along its blade. "Tell me."

He went quiet, averted his gaze, then stopped moving with his eyes pointed at the fire. I was immobile, as well, waiting for him to speak without looking away. The crackling of the fire was the only sound for a long while. When he finally spoke, he said, "This isn't an excuse." He met my eyes. "Okay? I'm not trying to guilt trip you into feeling bad for me or trying to make you forgive me. I don't want that. Alright? I don't want to be forgiven." I nodded, slow and patient. He measured the gesture. His lips pressed tight together, then he returned his thousand-yard stare to the fire. His hands went back to work on his sword, slow and easy. "How much do you know about Dawn?"

"Not much," I admitted, shrugging. "Just that she's a sadistic Italian bitch with one hell of a durability rating." I stopped "polishing" my sword and sheathed it. I let it lay across my legs as I put my full attention on Zach. "Why? Isn't she dead?"

He shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe physically. Maybe. Even if she is…" he shook his head, tapped his temple with one finger. "She's still alive in here. I thought I'd gotten over it."

I narrowed my eyes. My hands balled together in my lap. "That… that sounds like PTSD, Zach. Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I didn't think anything of it, at first. It was just nightmares, mostly. Bad nightmares, but still. They started again after Emm died, and got worse every night. Still, it was just sleep. I'd lost sleep before. Then we got to the Outrealm." He faltered, stopped polishing. His mouth opened, closed, found no words for a time. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and went back to work. The blade was already clean, but I stayed silent. "I saw her, Rob. I swear to Naga, I saw Dawn. I told myself it was a trick of the light, but I saw her. I kept looking at Krystal and—and I saw silver hair. I kept my distance from her for a while and… it faded. I didn't see her anymore. Thought I was clear. Maybe just fatigue or sleep loss or whatever. Talked to you, got looked at by Calli, and went to a shop to buy this."

He reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out a pendant on a silver, gleaming chain. He held it out and I received it. In the center was a brown orb with scuffs and scratches on its surface. "I wanted to apologize to Robin. So I bought a necklace and was gonna give it to her during the ballot announcement. I found her in an alley—we ran into each other.

He took a deep breath. "We talked, it was awkward, and I tried to give her the necklace. After that…" He shook his head, his brow furrowed. He clutched his hand, rubbed his wrist and forearm. "It's hazy. I don't know what was real. I don't know what was in my head. I remember her asking about the necklace," he said with a grimace, "and then…" He looked dead at me. His eyes were dark and sad. "Then it wasn't Robin anymore."

"Are you sure?" I asked, then winced at his hurt reaction. "I mean, they have similar hair, you could have just been—"

"Do you really think I would get them confused?" For the first time since it'd happened, I saw a flash of anger in his eyes. Or maybe defense. He shook his head, vehement. "No, Robin's hair is like moonlight—bright and beautiful." His face twisted in a sneer. "Dawn's is like bone, with that black strip running through it like marrow. I know the difference."

"And yet…"

"I know. Whole lot of good it did me. I saw Dawn. I did what I would have done if she had been in front of me that night. I grabbed her by the throat, slammed her against the wall, and tried to crush the life out of her." His resolve faded. His shoulders slumped and his gaze fell. "But it wasn't Dawn. It was—wasn't..."

His lip quivered. His eyes flicked up to me for the briefest of moments before he tilted his head up to the sky and let out a shuddery sigh. "That's what happened."

"Does Robin know this?"

He said nothing. Silence fell over the night. The flames flickered and cast shadows over his upturned face. My own dipped to the ground as I processed everything. I couldn't help him. How could I, when I was still dealing with issues of my own? As I was, I was no better than a point of reference. But even I didn't have what he was ailing from. I couldn't help there.

The flames died out to a smolder. The next watch was coming up, and it occurred to me that neither of us had been entirely too dutiful. I scanned the area around us, plucked a stick off the ground, and sighed before stoking the fire back to life. He winced when the flames expanded, so I knew he wasn't asleep.

"I'm not a therapist," I said, unsure if he'd hear or listen. I continued on without caring. "I can't help you with what's wrong with you, but—"

He shot up, sudden and serious. "I'm not the victim. I don't need to be helped—"

"—there are people here who can." I levelled an equally stern look at him. He wavered and slouched. "I don't think there's any magic solution to this, even here," I continued, "so you'll have to get better the old fashioned way. Talk to people, alright? People who know what they're doing and what they're talking about. People like Libra, or Calli—people with their shit together. Talk to them. Okay?"

I leaned forward, silently urged him to bring his eyes to meet mine. By some magic he did. "I'll think on it."

I grabbed my sword and stood. "Do it," I said as I strapped my sword to my belt. "Sooner rather than later." I passed him the stick I'd picked up and told him to stoke the fire so it would stay going for the next watch, maybe through more brush onto it. "I'm going to scout quick around the perimeter. I should be back before Lon'qu and Kellam get out here."

With that, I left him to brood and think. By the time I circled back around, he was gone and Lon'qu was sitting in his spot.

* * *

 _Six. Everything I saw was six._

 _I couldn't remember this room. It was familiar in a homely way, but it had been too long. Beside the too-short bed was an oak endtable, which took up half the space between it and the wall-length desk that extended from the corner of the room to the dark wooden door. Light streamed in from a window above the bed, above me, too bright to bear as inky shadows welled in the corners of the room and from under the door._

 _I pushed myself up and winced._

 _My hand hurt—it burned, I thought. It felt like with every pulse, the more aware of it I was and the darker the corners of the room got and the starker, narrower the light became. "Stop," I hissed, and stood from the bed. I held my hand close to my body, clutching it tight against my shirt._ Smother the fire _._

 _I moved to the door. My footsteps were too loud, hammers on the floorboards. I slowed my breathing, as each breath I took is a raucous vacuum. Too loud._ I was too much.

" _Isn't that the truth?" the door said. Six eyes stared straight ahead. Glowing, poised in curved lines and meeting at the bottom with a twist. "Ugly humans, grotesque molds bear weight on God. Repulsive folly… rise above on wings of ruin." They blinked._

" _Hello?" I called._

 _The six eyes rotated, and their glowing, hollow pupils settled on me. "Hello?" the door echoed, it's voice more than one. I latched onto one that rolled its 'r' in gut-wrenching accent, only because I recognized it._

" _What are you?" I asked, taking a hesitant step closer. The eyes did not leave mine. I swallowed hard._

" _The Dragon Egg, the Seed of Defile, laid and planted in fertile soil. Your mind is the mud, your doubt is the dirt."_

" _What?"_

" _Sleep now, little boy. Little darling, dreaming child. I drink your light."_

" _What the fuck does that mean?" I yelled. I screamed at the door. Its eyes all blinked, one at a time. "Fuck you, answer me!" I stepped toward the door, lunged at it and drew my fist back—_

 _I fell flat on my back. The air knocked out of my lungs. No more walls, the floor felt softer and more lush. Above me was a canopy of trees. The Light was dwindling, small streams and pokes seen through the leaves. The Shadows were massive._

" _Hush now." I couldn't breathe. Cold, like a blade slid across my cheek. "If you scream, I'll kill you without hesitation. Do you want that yet?" I shook my head. She laughed. "How much further are we going? How many times will you let me cut you before I sink into your skin?" Ice-cold cutting, hot breath going down my face and neck. "How long until we go down together?"_

" _I don't want to." I sucked in air, pushed it out, but it never filled my lungs. She pressed her weight like a rock down on them. Even if I wanted to scream, I did not have the breath. The best I could manage was a weak, airy, "Stop."_

 _I struggled, tried to lift my arms and shove her off. Too heavy._ Gods! _I panicked, flailed, fought against her but that ice cold edge lingered above me, invisible but terrible._

" _Scream. It'll be over." She giggled._

 _I didn't want to die. I couldn't. Not when… Faces flashed before me, ghosts with no eyes or mouths, heads of hair in blue and brown, green and red, black and_

 _Silver._

 _My lungs had voice. My throat opened. My eyes stared straight into the bright blue of the sky and how it made the leaves glow green. Something cold, like metal, a necklace, rested on my throat. It was stronger than the warmth._

 _I opened my mouth, her lips parted in a wolfish smile and her blade went up, and I—_

"Again," I breathed. "It happened again." I shivered.

* * *

 **Krystal:**

A cold wind blew in from the north. Frost covered the grass and the reddening leaves no the trees around our camp. "Winter's on her way," Sully said with a frown. I kept my cloak pulled as tight around me as it would go. The yukata I'd gotten did little good against the wind, and restricted my movement more than anything if I put it on with my cloak. Instead, I wrapped the navy-blue cloth around my waist and let it shield my legs like a skirt. Still not much protection, but at least it kept me more modest.

"Good idea," Sully said, riding beside me as we marched. Her own yukata, a bold crimson, a shade darker than her hair, was wrapped around her neck like a scarf, some of the cloth trailing heroically in the wind behind her. "Bought time we get you something that covers you up a little. But we'll have to get you something warmer before snow comes. I reckon a month before then."

"R-right." I nodded, and she went ahead.

Yesterday's cheer died in the morning as the chill moved in. Those marching around me had grim looks on their faces at the thought of approaching winter. Anyone with coats had them pulled close, anyone with hoods had them drawn up. Our fliers—with the exception of Dylan, who took to the skies as soon as we resumed our march—stayed on the ground.I was among the unlucky few who neglected to buy something in advance.

Tharja was in the same boat as me. Her expression was the darkest I'd seen all day as she strolled up beside me, her cape wrapped tight around her body, more exposed than me with my new skirt.

I blushed at the thought and jerked my head away, but she noticed. "What?" the Plegian spat.

"U-um," I looked at the ground. "I-I just thought you looked cold."

"Of course I am," she said, shivering. "I'm not used to this dreadful Ylissean weather. Why anyone would bother to live here is beyond me." I tried and failed to hide a small smile. Again, Tharja noticed. "What?" she asked again.

"Oh, n-nothing." I shifted on my feet, pulled my cloak tighter. "It's just that, well, this weather isn't even that bad. I-I mean, it's cold, but where I'm from, it gets worse, so I'm kind of used to it."

"I don't understand." Tharja narrowed her eyes. "'Where you're from?''" I blanched. That wasn't a detail I meant to spill. "Are you not from Plegia, as well?"

"N-no. I was actually born in Ylisse. O-over on the east."

"And yet you're a dark mage? Who taught you?"

"Nobody," I admitted. I wasn't good enough to pretend that I knew what I was doing, let alone to a practicing, trained dark mage. "I…I don't' really know what I'm doing. When I use the magic, it's just an urge. Something that comes naturally. I don't know how or why I do it." I grabbed at the book laced to my belt. The pages inside its black binding were still strange to me. "And no matter how many times I try to read it, it never makes sense. All the writing is jumbled and foreign."

"I knew you were an amateur by the strength of your spells," the Plegian stated. "But I'd figured you'd had some training. Yet you say none at all?" I nodded. She hummed, her serious gaze never lessening. She stared for a moment longer, then huffed and looked away. "Then you're a liability. You're messing with things you don't understand and at this rate, you're going to get somebody killed, and it won't be the enemy."

"What?" All the blood rushed from my face and my eyes went wide. "Why?"

"Dark magic is dangerous, girl," Tharja said. "Ancient, primal. You're tapping into something older than any other magic, and doing so blindly. Sometime soon it's going to be sick of being toyed with, and your spell won't work as intended. I'm surprised you've lasted this long without a spell misfiring."

"'Misfiring?'"

"Hitting the wrong person, firing the wrong way, blowing up in your face, or backfiring altogether and placing any number of curses on you or your friends." The Plegian shook her head. "Casting magic unknowingly is rare, and never has a case ended up good without training. Like I said, I'm surprised you've lasted this long."

I looked down at my tome with a new feeling: a type of fearful reverence. The book was heavy, cold and hard in my hands. I thought back on the times I'd wielded it, the power that flowed through me and, in some cases, come out stronger than I'd anticipated. Was that me losing control? How close was I to 'misfiring,' as she put it?

I wished Tharja hadn't told me any of this. She'd planted a seed of fear in my mind.

"I see," was all I said.

"But," she said, tilting her head back and closing her eyes, "it's up to you. If you want to become a burden or worse, a threat, then keep on the path you've started. However, it is in your best interest to find a teacher before you hurt someone, Grima forbid it be Robin. I'll make you wish you were dead if something happens to her."

* * *

 **Calliope:**

"What's got you in a good mood?" a voice said from beside me, interrupting the tune I'd been humming.

I turned to look and saw a red-haired boy in a pointy hat. He looked young, too young to be marching, and familiar.

"You're Ricken, right?" He nodded. I smiled at him. "I wouldn't say I'm in a particularly good mood. Does it seem like it?"

He grinned, as well. "Well, you've haven't stopped smiling since we got back. I was wondering if something good happened."

"Have I?"

"Yep! I'd say you're smiling enough to make up for everyone else's scowling."

"Someone has to, don't you think?" He nodded. "Anyway," I said, "I suppose I'm just happy to be back in Naga's land. It gladdens me to know that I'm back in her grace. Even if the wind is a tad bitter."

He hummed, and went quiet. His boyishness was refreshing. All this stoicism during the march and my time in watching the infirmary in the Outrealm had grown dreary. I noticed with the way he carried himself—chin tipped up, back a little too straight, shoulders rigid—that he was trying to circumvent his subtle immaturity, but the sight made me giggle. He heard and flushed. "What?"

"You're trying too hard." I pushed down on his shoulders and patted one. "You look like a statue, walking like that." He looked away, scratched the back of his head and muttered a quick "okay." I reached up to mess with his hand and tease him, but relented at the last second. Instead, I laced my hands behind my back and kept pace beside him. "Don't worry about trying to look mature; you're still young, Ricken."

"I know," he said. He tried to keep an optimistic tone, but his brow was furrowed too tightly for it to be believable. His hat hid his face as he looked down to the ground. "That's what everyone says. They all tell me I'm too young to do the stuff they do, but I've fought!" Then quieter, "I've killed people like they have. I'm older than they think. But every time I try and show it, they always tease me, like you did."

"Oh," I rolled my eyes, "I was only teasing you because—WAH!" My foot caught on my heel, and I flung forward. My eyes slammed shut, one arm out to brace before I hit the ground.

Something latched onto my arm, and the corresponding hand found purchase on a shirt or a robe. For a moment, I thought I was safe, but Ricken cried out in surprise and my falling speed did not slow.

I crashed into the dirt and landed on my elbow. Ricken, thank Naga, did not land on top of me, catching himself with both hands so he stay suspended above, face to face with me. His hat fell off and landed by my head.

His mouth pressed into an uncertain, wavering line and the beginnings of a blush touched his face. "A-Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I said.

"That's goo—" he made to stand up, but before he could, his eyes went wide in panic and he was yanked to his feet by some unseen force. The brash, loud voice gave me an inkling of an idea who it was before I saw him, however.

"On your feet, little man!" said Vaike. He hoisted Ricken up by the back of his robes with one arm. "Let the lady up." The blonde man bore a big smile, and despite the chill, his thick fur coat—which he'd no doubt gotten for this weather—remained unbuttoned to show his otherwise bare chest. Once Ricken had his bearings, Vaike gave the young mage a heavy clap on the back and reached down to help me up. "Here."

I raised my hand and he pulled me to my feet more gently than I'd expected. "Thank you," I said.

"No problem!" He put his hands in fists on his waist and flexed—noticeably. "The Vaike is always here to help someone in need."

Ricken walked ahead, disappearing into the Shepherds in front. Thanks to me falling, that was most of them. "Get a move on, you two," Sully called, looping her horse around the back of the convoy to urge us forward. "We don't got time to sit around chatting." Her horse seemed to be glaring directly at Vaike as she made her pass.

The fighter made a crude gesture at the redhead and called, "Do you expect me to leave the lady lyin' on the ground? That just isn't in the Vaike's order of business!"

I pulled my sleeve back to get a look at my elbow; indeed, a red gash marred along the base of my forearm. It wasn't anything serious, but would be a nuisance for some time. I hissed at the sight, drawing Vaike's attention. "Whoa, you okay?"

"Yes." I pulled my sleeve back over the cut and smiled. "As it is, I'm rather used to falling by this point. I end up with more scrapes and bruises than I can count." I shook my head. "But it's nothing to be concerned about."

He shrugged. "If you say so. But Sully's right. We should catch up."

"Indeed."

We hustled to catch up, as the others had now completely left us behind. "Watch your feet now!" Vaike called as he sped ahead. My dreaded dress made it hard to keep up, but I managed a desperate "I'll try!" while hiking up the skirt.

Lingering toward the edge of the pack, almost as far back as me, was Zach. His right arm was tucked tight against his chest, like it hurt. I remembered his hurt shoulder—mentally prepared a reprimand for removing his sling early—and frowned.

I approached, managing to not trip on the way. "Hello!" I called, but he seemed not to notice. I settled into pace beside him. That drew his attention. His eyes flicked over to me, then back to his feet. "Good morning."

"Morning."

I clasped my hands behind my back. "How are you doing? No aches or pains?"

"I'm fine," he said. He looked to me with tired eyes and a frown. "What do you need?"

I shrugged. "Nothing. I just figured I'd check up on you. See if you're doing alright."

He tipped his head back and sighed. His eyes closed and he pinched the bridge of his nose, saying, "Look, you don't need to worry about me. Regardless of what Robert told you, I'm _fine_ , and Robin is the one you—"

"I wasn't talking about the incident with Robin," I said, my eyes narrowing. His eyes opened in a scowl. "I was talking about your _arm_ , since you aren't wearing your sling anymore. Yet you were holding it like it hurt."

"Oh." He looked down, stared at his hand. _Not his shoulder_ , I noted, and inspected the rest of his arm in case he had other injuries. Aside from the small burn marks Robin had given him, he looked alright. "Then yes, I'm fine. Maybe a little sore, but…" He squeezed his hand into a fist, then shoved it into a pocket. He winced and said, "Otherwise I'm quite alright."

"The burns don't hurt?" He shook his head. "That's good." I let us walk in silence for a time. I thought he appreciated it, as after a while, he relaxed to my presence, which made me a little guilty. I had no intention of staying quiet for so long, or for letting him relax. I was merely taking the time to phrase my next few questions. When I did speak again, it did not take long for him to return to rigidity. "What would Robert have told me?"

He grimaced. His lips pressed tight together. I gently touched his arm. He glanced at me, but did not speak. Instead, he pushed harder on the ground and picked up speed. Before he could get away, I wrapped my hand around his bicep and kept pace. I kept my grip soft, though, and spoke no harsher than I had. "Zach, you can talk to me. I encourage it, in fact."

"There is nothing that needs talking about. Please, just…" He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Just leave me alone. I kept to the back for a reason."

I let go of his arm and put my hands on my hips. "And I came up to you for a reason." I offered a somewhat teasing smile, but it dropped away quick. My eyes narrowed, and I could only assume my expression darkened considerably at his reaction. "Don't think I haven't noticed the bags under your eyes. That, your slouch, your gait—you're off. What's wrong?" He opened his mouth, most likely to spew more self-sustaining blabber, so I cut him off. "And you aren't _fine_. Do not try to shoulder something because you are guilty." I poked him on the shoulder for emphasis. He clamped his mouth shut and stared at me. Something strange was in his eyes. He still seemed at odds with my help. I held his gaze, as well as his arm again. He slackened a bit. "Look, think of it this way: it is my job as healer to make sure all injured are well taken care off. The Order of Naga teaches us that not all wounds are cuts and bruises. So, in order to perform my duty, I _must_ take care of you, even if you object. Understand."

"I think so."

I smiled. "Good. So tell me what's wrong. Have you been eating?" He nodded. No less than usual, he said. "Drinking?" As much as he could. "Sleeping?"

That's where he went quiet. I egged him on, pressed closer until I was nearly hugging his arm. For some reason, that seemed to ease him. I noted that for later, and held tight. "Not as much as I should," he admitted after a spell. "What sleep I do get is worthless, I wake up so gods damned much." He opened his mouth to continue, but stopped short, and looked away.

"Any dreams?"

A beat of silence. "Nothing unusual."

"Hmm." I placed a finger on my chin in thought, then shrugged. "Any number of things can cause disturbed sleep. I'm sure it's stress. I don't have a long-term solution, but if this persists, come see me. I'm up late most nights, so I can whip you up a concoction for sleep."

"That would be great," he said. For a second, I thought he cracked a smile. It was gone in the next instant, and I let go of his arm. As I smoothed out my skirt, he cleared his throat. "I'll think about it."

"You do that."

* * *

 **Robin:**

"If we follow along this road here, it'll bring us straight to Ylisstol at risk of Plegian patrols. If we cut around, it will be a day longer but we'll loop around Lake Xane and come into this town." I squinted, leaned closer to read the barely legible writing. "'Ewynn?'"

"Edain," Frederick corrected from beside me. "It sits on a hill overlooking the city. A good vantage point if we want to scout the area beforehand." While Chrom stood to my right, Frederick rode on my left and was significantly more helpful in planning than the prince was. Even if his attitude wasn't clouded and dark with grief or anger or whatever was wrong with him, he wasn't the brightest. Taking his mood into consideration, however, we hadn't spoken properly since we left Southtown yesterday. Yet he stuck by my side, and the occasional glance at the map or me showed a little interest in our affairs.

Part of me wished he would get over this. I understood his sister died, and the way we did was horrible, but we had to move on. We had bigger things to worry about, and couldn't linger on grief or anger or sadness or any emotions. Winning this war was the most important. Guilt could wait.

Regardless, Frederick was an incredible help. He understood my mindset perfectly and, aside from the occasional break to check up on Lissa—who was also dealing with this better than Chrom—he was doing everything he could to recover the halidom.

"That could be useful," I said. "We're fighting a much larger force. We'll need to plan more once we arrive. Give me details on the town."

"It lay next to the lake. It has a large watermill and deals heavily in logging. Much of the capitals wood comes from Edain and the forestry beside it." _Good cover,_ I mused. The forestry could prove as an excellent reconnaissance point. Frederick continued. "Most of the buildings are small, and arranged—do you have something to write on and with?"

I rolled the map up, shoved it into my coat and reached into the bag on my belt. I snatched a small scroll and a stick of charcoal. The knight pressed the paper against his mounts armored neck and went to work. "The buildings are small, usually one or two rooms, and arranged around the lake like so." He drew a circle and several rough squares around half of it. "They stop at the crest of the hill, with the Capitol down here." He tapped the paper, and I nodded along.

The forestry was dense to the north. When we arrived, we would need to send scouts into the trees and check for signs of Plegian patrols, then move ourselves through the woods to ambush any soldiers stationed in the town itself. As important as the town was, and with a vantage point like it had, I had no doubt in my mind that there would be significant resistance. Still, it was our best shot.

"If we sweep around this way," I said, sliding my finger along the side of the hill that would have been our straight shot to Ylisstol from Southtown, "they have sight of us from Edain and can fire at us before we reach the gates. Not to mention the archers they'll have posted on the city walls."

"So we're going to Edain?" the knight asked. I nodded. "Then we'll need supplies for the extended trip." He rolled up the scroll, handed it and the charcoal to me, then said, "I'll let the merchant know," before rearing up and looping around the convoy.

I closed and latched my bag. As I swung my coat closed, I caught Chrom staring at me with his brow furrowed. "What?"

"Why do you keep doing that?"

"Keep doing what?"

"Rubbing your neck like that." He ringed his hands around his neck and rubbed his throat. I glanced down and realized he was mimicking me. One of my hands was curved over my throat, rubbing slow and easy like a 'c' around my neck. I winced and willed myself to stop. Chrom gave me a peculiar look, but I eased my hands naturally to my pockets.

"I… didn't know I was." I blinked a couple times, looked away. "It's nothing."

He hummed, a surprisingly upbeat noise coming from his dreadful expression. Otherwise, he seemed to drop it after one last remark. "I'd be careful not to keep doing it. Your neck's red."

"Thanks, I'll… I'll try not to." The thoughtfulness in his voice caught me off-guard, and I lost pace while he kept going.

I touched my neck with one finger, but there was no pain, thankfully. He was right, though. _Gods, I can't believe I was doing that_ , I scolded myself. _What are you doing?_ I was getting myself together, but this kind of crack… well, it wasn't severe. Perhaps it could be forgiven.

We fell into silence. We walked without talking for a long time, just the two of us while Frederick relayed our plan. Southtown was close, I knew. Not within sight, thanks to the hills, but close. We would be there by noon.

Chrom walked a few steps ahead of me. The Fire Emblem was pinned to his back, and Falchion had not been pulled from its sheathe since we left the Outrealm.

I pulled my attention away as best I could, revising our rough route with my map and jotting down notes in my book, or flitting through my thunder tome. Every time, when I'd be putting my distraction away, I would catch sight of Chrom's back and frown. His hum reverberated in my ears. I saw the harsh set to his jaw, the perpetual scowl, and the shadows in his eyes. That hum, that lighthearted noise, however, reminded me of how he looked in Plegia, smiling and dancing when Robert sang. The brightness in his eyes since then, the brightness that I first saw when he and Lissa found me, was gone.

The guilt I tried to repress bubbled up at that. I attempted to quash it, but he caught wind of my staring and glanced back at me. "Chrom."

He looked back again and I caught up to him. "How…" I lost my mental stride for a second, and my words fell away. I stared at the ground as I recuperated. "We… haven't really talked, in a while. Not since before Galga."

"We've talked plenty."

"But not _really_ ," I said, stressing the last word. He didn't seem to understand, cocking his head to the side and raising an eyebrow. "You know? Like," I scowled, "we discuss things now, but before—before we came to Plegia, we would _talk_. About anything, everything. We talked about Lissa and Frederick, each other." I tried to smile, but it came weak and forced. "Even when you said you didn't see me as a woman. I was mad at the time, but…" I tipped my head back and sighed. "I miss when we could talk like that. Now it seems like everyone is in their own little groups and… I'm excluded. No one ever talks to me like a close friend, and… I fear that's only going to get worse."

"I feel the same, though…" he looked down and crossed his arms. The movement jostled the golden shield on his back. "I'm sure my solitude is my own doing. I'm aware I haven't made myself the most approachable as of late. I've… actively pushed people away." A pained look flashed across his face.

"Emm's death has been hard on you," I reasoned, though it wasn't justification. Still, the guilt… "I understand. And I'm sorry. If only I'd accounted for those archers—"

"There's no way you could have," he said. "I realize that now." He met my eyes, and I was suddenly thankful that Frederick had not returned to us. A tenderness was in his eyes that he would never show the knight. "I've been thinking a lot, this past week. It's all I've _been_ doing, honestly, and I've realized two things on my own. One: Emm's death was not your fault. I'm not a tactician, but I know you're a brilliant one, and we had no way of knowing that witch would summon Risen. She raised the dead, Robin."

"I know," I conceded. I wanted to believe him. Desperately. Yet doing so was easier said than done. He was right: We couldn't have known. The art of necromancy was rare in Plegia, and downright legendary anywhere else, from what I'd read. And none of our sources cited or reported Aversa or anyone else in Plegia as necromancers. By all accounts, this was an unforeseeable event, but still… I could not believe anyone, least of all the Mad King, had outmatched me. We had won! No, there had to be a mistake. I was a much better tactician than anyone he employed. We made a mistake. _I made_ a mistake, because the blame had to fall somewhere, and who else could have—

"Two: this is my fault."

I closed my eyes for a moment, then they shot open in disbelief as I said, "Chrom, that doesn't make any sense."

He held a hand out for patience. "As I said, I've thought a lot on this, and, I've come to the conclusion that it's my fault. This all goes back to Breakneck Pass. I let her go, Robin. I chose to let her leave, but we could have taken her with us. We knew full-well that she would be captured—the Plegians were already breathing down our necks. Leaving her there was a death sentence of its own, and… I signed it by letting her stay without us."

"That was just as unforeseeable as the archers—" I began, but he cut me off.

"Liar. Look me in the eyes right now and tell me you didn't know she'd be captured." I couldn't say it, nor could I meet his gaze even as it was levelled at me for a solid minute before he next spoke. "We all knew what would happen."

"You're right," I said. I was, in a sense, proud of him for all this puzzle-piecing he'd done while my own thoughts had been preoccupied. However… "We _all_ knew. This wasn't just your fault. And this isn't a competition for guilt."

"I know." With a slight smile, he said, "I just wanted to make sure you did."

I sensed a hint of humor in his voice and looked up. Indeed, he was looking at me from the corner of his eyes. It was small, but a light flickered in his eyes, disappearing when he directed his eyes forward. I smiled—it came naturally, actually—but he probably didn't notice. "I'm glad you're doing better, now." Even if it was just for the moment, or perhaps optimism tinting my vision.

"I wouldn't say I'm out yet, but…" He tipped his head back to the sky. "I had some help. Without it, I may have still been as stuck as I'd been when we arrived at the Bathrealm." With a wistful expression, he said, "'All that we can do now is focus on ending this war and bringing the peace she would have wanted.' Gods." He looked back down and pinched the bridge of his nose. His smile changed to a frown in the process. "I owe her an apology."

 _Her_. The remnant of my matchmaking heart danced a little at the thought, igniting a bit of an urge I thought died four days ago. I masked my own smile, and suggested, "You should do that when you have the chance. I can handle organizations with Frederick when we arrive at Southtown if you want to take that opportunity to do so."

He contemplated for a second or two, hand on his chin, before nodding. "Alright." His eyes glided up to mine. "I think that'll do." Then he frowned, and his gaze fell to the ground as his arms slumped and we crested a hill. "I just hope she isn't too cross with me."

"Well, you don't have much time to dwell on it," I said with a smirk. "Look." I pointed ahead, toward where the gate of Southtown stood tall against the rolling plains. We were a few minutes out at most. I stuffed my hands into my pockets and straightened my back. "I'd well up what courage you can and face the wrath of whoever this woman is."

He opened his mouth to say something. Maybe he was going to tell me who this woman was, or maybe protest the idea altogether—I would never know—but Frederick arrived at long last, and by our side we lead the convoy into Southtown for the last peaceful stop in a long time.

 **AN: Ice girlfriend came home! So did her older sister and brother! Happy New Year! Even if it is a month late… Yeah.**

 **Anyway, we finally get the name for mystery narrator! Mikhalus Greil, tactician of Plegia, submitted by the Fell Dragonite. He's rather important.**

 **And the crew is kind of pulling themselves together. Isn't that great? I'm happy for 'em. Though, nothing can be peaceful forever. I have plenty of drama in store, don't you readers worry your pretty little heads. Honestly, I've been waiting for this arc for quite some time. These next few arcs, in fact, so I'm going to have fun writing these. Fingers crossed that I get them out quicker as a result, but college prep and scholarship applying are going to get in the way without fail.**

 **One thing of import: next chapter is going to take a little bit of detail from the new, revamped prologue, so if you haven't read that already, I suggest doing so. The detail isn't too great, but it may not make sense if you don't read it.**

 **If you've come this far, leave a review and let me know what you thought. Especially if you didn't enjoy it. Let me know what I could do better. If you have questions, PM me and I'll answer you as soon as I see it. Or, even better, hit me up for a link to the discord channel we've started! Add me at 111oats#3341 if you want to!**

 **The Oats have been harvested.**


	29. Chapter 28: Emergence

Fire Emblem and its characters are owned by Intelligent Systems and Nintendo.

 **Goodbye, Reggie Fils-Aime. It saddens me that your time as President of Nintendo of America is coming to an end, but we were blessed to have you for 15 years, and I am happy that you are leaving in good health. So long, Reggie!**

… **shut up, I know how this sounds.**

 **Mikhalus Greil:**

A day away from the frontlines and my nerves were on end. It was ridiculous, really, that I should have been this nervous; this war was not mine, and its result should not have been my concern. And yet…

I found myself pacing the length of Salem's sleigh while Yael roused the king. Frankly, he should have been up hours ago—it was almost noon! But my preoccupation with Aversa's possible ruination of my army—the _king's_ army—stole my thoughts away from productivity.

We still had a day of travel until we reached the front. That gave the witch two days to destroy my perfectly crafted plans. Who knew how far we'd already been pushed back? In truth, I suspected it was very little, if at all. The Feroxi could not have learned of my departure so soon, and the threat of my image was bound to keep them huddled away for at least one day.

Still…

"Gangrel!" I shouted, drawing Salem's gaze for a flicker of a moment. She turned her attention back to her wyvern's straps and made sure the sleigh and saddle were secure. "Get up and moving, we're wasting precious daylight!" I shared a look with Salem—her neutral expression failed to reflect my anger—and stormed toward the king's tent with a growl.

I ripped open the tent flaps and stormed in to see a bewildered Captain Yael and a groggy Gangrel. The latter saluted me on instinct. "Start packing his things," I ordered the wyvern captain, pointing to the king's scattered belongings. Gangrel watched Yael get to work with a slow consideration, but snapped to attention when I called his name again. "Get up," I snarled. "You're wasting precious time—time I can't afford to lose if you want to actually win this war." He nodded, slow and easy, then pushed himself to his unsteady feet. _Gods, he's worthless_. "Have a little hustle, get up!" I resisted the urge to grab him by the collar and yank him to his feet. As much as I wanted to, the Captains were more loyal to the king, and assaulting a royal would turn them against me.

The king's pace quickened slightly, but his abrupt awakening left him slow still. I bit back another particularly sour remark and settled for, "Grima, you're worse than your son," before storming out and getting into Salem's sleigh.

She regarded me with patient silence. How she got around in this scorching heat wearing that armor was beyond me—I was sweating in my robes. That may have had something to do with my seething temper, now that I thought about it. Nevertheless, I lay back in the sleigh and rested my head against the front. "I should have just warped to the frontlines," I said before closing my eyes. Just in time, too, as I heard Gangrel stumble out of his tent and bark at Yael to hurry up.

"It's going to be a long day, Captain Salem." A long day of nothing. If I'd brought my books and documents with me, I could at least have gotten some work done, but the abrupt leave from the frontline and soon after the Castle left me with little time to gather either, so I was left with nothing but the equipment I was wearing.

I opened my eyes as an idea occurred:

"Salem," I said, sitting up, "are there any stops scheduled between here and the frontlines?"

She thought for a moment, then reported, in her straight tone, "One, near the border. We're stopping to restock on water and food before—"

"Perfect!" I grinned. "When we arrive, I am going to warp back to the Table and return after an hour—I have some things I need to gather for the remainder of our trip."

"Yes, sir."

"Let's get a move on!" Gangrel's irritable voice rang out. I slumped back to the floor with a sigh.

"You heard the man." Salem grunted and mounted her wyvern. As it raised its wings and prepared to lift off, I was glad for the canvased walls of the sleigh. Sand beat up in a gust, and the ropes lashing the sleigh to the wyvern's saddle tensed before I began to move. The wyvern dragged the sleigh over the sand and, behind us, Gangrel and Yael were not far behind. The captain, even from this distance I could tell, bore a grim expression, and his posture was slouched.

Part of me felt for Yael, stuck with the worthless king, but I was only able to spare one of them, and I figured I'd keep the woman out of Gangrel's reach lest he harass her more than he would Yael.

As expected, the journey went on without interruption, or excitement. I passed what time I could polishing Kurokaze's blade, but that became boring and I soon found myself gazing at the passing landscape.

I was sick of the desert. The sand was an annoyance. Setting up my tent was a nightmare, and the night itself was chilling; of course, it switched back to scolding during the day but I couldn't decide which was worse. I much preferred the more marshy regions of Plegia to this decrepit nonsense. This was a place devoid of life—what life did survive here was a miracle in itself, a miracle I admired. That type of perseverance…

I was reminded of the Exalt. Her serene face as she chose to sacrifice herself… I would never forget that moment. And that she persevered. The woman was strong—did her brother and sister take after her in that way? Only time would tell.

I was in turn reminded of something else I had to do when I warped back to the Table. My project had been delayed by this war, but it warranted a checkup. It was rude of me to keep her waiting, as it was. Torturous, I imagined, and that left a bad taste in my mouth. Poor girl. I owed her something for the wait. I made a mental note to spare some time to check on her.

I stared at the dunes a bit longer before clambering to the front of the sleigh and looking up at Salem. The wind was vicious and loud, so I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted, "Captain!"

She looked down and shouted back, "Sir?"

"How much further out are we?"

She turned ahead, considered for a moment, then replied, "I can see the bridge now, sir! It won't be long."

"Very good!" With that, I sat back down and pulled out my pouch of warp powder. The bag was less full than I'd have liked, but it was enough to get me to the Table and back. _I must grab more when I am there_ , I noted, and wrapped the pouch's thread around my hand. _That,_ I thought, _and my journal._

Before long, the sleigh jolted, and the terrain it crossed was no longer smooth and sandy, but rugged and beginning to hold more life. We were past the dunes. The sleighs would not take us much further, and slid to a stop. Salem's wyvern landed in front of it and behind us, Yael's did the same, with the king's sleigh grumbling to a stop on the rougher ground. Salem dismounted and waited for me to exit the sleight before working on untying the ropes.

Pale faces stared at us from around the corners of buildings, from inside windows, or even stopped in the middle of the street with baskets of clothes, fruits, or other produce tucked under their arms or balanced on their heads. One of the faces peering out of a window wore a headband, I noticed, before he ducked back inside. I eyed them all for a moment, waited until they resumed what they were doing before reaching for my belt.

I took a pinch of warp powder said, "I will be back in an hour. If the king asks, tell him the same thing I told you."

"Yes, sir."

"Oh," I said, catching myself before I threw the powder on the ground. "One more thing: see if you can't keep some distance between yourself and his Highness. He's in a rather bad mood, you're very pretty, and I doubt Yael is providing the effeminate treatment he seeks, so do yourself a favor and stay scarce until I return, alright?" My statement was offset by a cheeky grin which, to my unsurprised chagrin, she did not return. Instead, I receiver an affirmative, albeit bland—Gods, why couldn't she be more emotive?—nod before I disappeared in a flash.

 **Robin:**

"We'll be lodging in here," I said, jerking my thumb back to an inn behind me. I had the roster and lodging registry in my hands and scanned over it with a guiding finger. "Stahl, Vaike, Gaius, Robert, and Virion: you boys are top floor, left of the stairs in that order. Gregor, you take Zach, Maribelle, Anna, and Dylan up with you to the top and take a right instead. Get comfortable, we'll be here for a few days." I scribbled a checkmark under their names as they walked past me. "Sumia, Cordelia, Sully, Nowi, and Ricken go to the second floor, also on the left, and Krystal, Lissa, Lon'qu, Calliope and Kellam are on the right. Donnel, Tharja, Libra, Miriel, Chrom, Frederick, and myself are on the bottom. If anyone needs anything, come to one of us. Alright?"

"Yes," most voices who hadn't already gone inside relayed.

"Good. Like I said, get comfortable. We'll be here a little while. After you're done, feel free to see the town." I folded up the registry and tucked it in my coat alongside the chunk of charcoal I'd been writing with. Having settled that, I dusted my hands off and entered the inn. Seeing the town was something I too was interested in, but I did not have the time. Two things occupied my minds at the moment—two things I would admit occupied my mind, anyway: attempting correspondence with Flavia and Basilio, and the _girl_ Chrom was going to talk to today.

I smiled at the thought of him, blushing and stammering, trying to ask a girl on a date, or handing her flower's he'd half-crushed in his hands because he was so nervous. He and I made the deal that he'd speak to this mystery girl as soon as we got everything sorted, so upon seeing him inside, I shot him a grin.

Yet… just as the thought was silly and amiable, it hurt. Was it… jealousy? This pinprick in my heart every time I dreamed up one of his amateurish scenarios was foreign. I… I did not think it was jealousy. No, it wasn't. I was sure.

I pushed the thought away. I pushed all the thoughts away, in fact. Away and down. I couldn't focus on those now. I needed concentration on this letter.

With that in mind, I marched over to my room and shut the door behind me. Before I lost steam, I dug through my pack and grabbed my proper writing tools to splay them out on the desk. "Okay," I said, and grabbed my quill. Before I could start, however, I heard the door next to mine open, then shut. Chrom's door. "Ah," I groaned, slapping my cheeks. "Focus, Robin. Focus!"

 _Flavia,_

 _I hope this reaches you in good health. This is Robin, tactician of the Shepherds. We are alive. All of us. My deepest apologies for falling off the map after the Exalt's death, but we had no way to reach you, and needed to ensure our safety. I hope you understand. I can explain the situation better when we next meet, but until then, for the purpose of security, we must remain concise and cautious. With Plegians everywhere, who knows what information will be stolen._

 _I ask that you respond with haste so we can coordinate a plan of action. The Shepherds are ready to fight and we are willing to help the war effort in any way we can, so please respond as soon as possible. Thank you,_

 _Robin of the Shepherds_

I put the quill down and studied the letter, checking it over for spellings or anything warranting a rewrite. "Wait. Flavia won't care. Hell, we'll be lucky if she gets this at all, let alone has time to complain about literacy."

While I waited for the ink to dry, I unpacked the rest of my things and sorted them along the desk and the bed. I took my cloak off and cracked my back, stretched my arms, and resisted the urge to collapse on the bed. It was noon. I had plenty to do. First, I had to meet with the merchant.

"Ugh." I had no reason to be this tired. It was noon, I got a good night's sleep, and all we'd done was march. This was ridiculous.

I frowned, and pushed up from my desk. My cloak, lying on the back of the chair, came with, and I swept out the door with the same unpleasant look on my face. In passing, I knocked on Frederick's door—whether he was there or not—and called that I needed him to leave a map of Ylisstol on my desk. He did not respond, nor did I wait. "Anna," I called, walking into the main hall. The redhead was already there, lounging in one of the chairs with her legs thrown over the arm. She sat up at my voice and grinned as I approached. "You ready?"

"For a shopping trip?" the merchant chimed. "Always." She stood up and brushed off her pants. "Where are we going first?"

"Stables," I said. The merchant pulled a small scroll out of somewhere and wrote on it as I spoke. "We need three wagons—one for healers, one for command, and another for supplies; carrying all our stuff by hand is really slowing us down."

"Then we'll need people to bring them back here"

I chewed my lip. "Maribelle and Stahl can take the medical wagon back," I decided. They'd be able to handle the horses well together, and Stahl knew enough about medicines to help Maribelle with that. "For the supply wagon…" I hummed.

"We can bring that with us," Anna suggested. "It'll be easier to load supplies if we do so immediately after purchasing them."

"Good idea," I said, and silently scolded myself for not thinking of it. "Then Sully can bring the command wagon back and I'll deal with that later."

"We should bring someone along who can help us with the heavier lifting, too," the merchant said.

I arched an eyebrow. "What do you intend to buy that we won't be able to lift?"

She shrugged. "I figured you'd want to restock on weapons, since what everyone currently has is a little worse for wear." Hmm. That was true. "At the very least, it's useful to have a spare in the back in case one breaks. That, and a stock of staves. You're going to need to do a lot of healing fighting against an army with a force this small. You have the healers for it already, but staves only last so long."

"Hmm, alright."

"And we'll want to bring the medical wagon with us instead of leaving it here," she continued. "No point in keeping staves with weapons. It's smarter to have them closer to the people who can use them."

"Then we may want to bring an additional healer, to help keep track. How much gold do we have to spend?"

"Enough," the redhead stated. At my questioning glance, she relented, "You don't have a lot stored up, but I'll sell some of my own wares if we fall short."

"Anna!" I balked. "You don't have to do that, I wouldn't ask you to get rid of your things for us."

"Relax." She held her hands up to placate me. "There are wares I was going to sell anyway. And besides," she grinned, a strange glint in her eye. "Sometimes to make a profit, you have to give a down payment."

I narrowed my eyes. "You know a lot about this."

She shrugged again. "War is profitable, and I make a habit of knowing how to make the most of a business opportunity. We'll just say this isn't my first time around this corner."

"I see." I had to admit, that statement didn't exactly strengthen my faith in the merchant's loyalty, but it was hard to deny her talents and… at the time, we were desperate for her kind of help. "I'm glad to have someone as experienced as you on our side."

She smiled—it was more innocent this time, but not completely so. "Go gather your people." She waved her hand in the air behind her and tapped her paper. "I'll get a rough estimate of how much this'll cost and see what I have to sell."

"Maribelle," I said after I'd gather everyone we'd need, "once we purchase the wagons, you will take Stahl and Calliope. I'm entrusting you three to stock us sufficiently on staves and other supplies we'll need in the healing tent."

"Your trust is well placed," the noble said, nodding.

"Sully." I turned to the red-knight. "You'll be on your own after we split, but all you have to do is bring the wagon we give you back here. After that, you're free to roam."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Alright," I said with a content sigh. "I believe that's everything. Anything else, Anna?" She considered, then shook her head and opened the front doors. I made sure everyone followed her out before doing the same myself and closing the doors behind me. After that, I made my way to the front of our little group. "What'd you find out about the cost?" I asked Anna.

"It'll be spendy," the merchant admitted. "Restocking provisions and vulneraries is cheap enough." She showed me her paper and traced her finger down a lines of scribble, with a total price at the bottom. She was right; it was fairly cheap. "But, once you add in the weapons, and the staves, and especially the tomes…" Further she slid her finger, and I was almost taken aback by the price.

"Gods," I muttered.

"But," Anna raised a finger, "we can resell what weapons we have. Even chipped steel can be melted down to be reused, you know." She winked at me and grinned. "And I'm in pretty good with a lot of the vendors around town—or at least my sisters are, but no one here can tell the difference, so I can score us a deal."

I nodded. "Good." I tried to hide my relief; without Anna, the cost would have been astronomical. Not everyone would have received a new weapon. If theirs broke in combat, they'd have to scavenge from the dead, if they even _survived_ whatever altercation they were in the middle of.

I placed my hand on Anna's shoulder and smiled. "I'm grateful for your help, Anna. We couldn't do this without you."

"It's what I do," she said simply. "Besides, you're not the only one making a profit from this."

My lips parted, prepared to ask what she meant, when I stopped myself. I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. At least, not initially. My curiosity, and skepticism, and, though I was loathe to admit it, my distrustful instinct to cover all my bases, grew too great, and I asked, "How _exactly_ are you profiting from this?"

"Tax."

I blinked. "What?"

"These prices aren't straight from the market, sweetie," she said in perhaps the most patronizing tone I'd ever been addressed in. "You think all these items are this expensive?" she gave me an incredulous look, and I felt sheepish and shameful. And rather foolish. "Sweetheart, when was the last time you restocked?"

I averted my gaze. I couldn't face her. Anna—a merchant!—was making me feel like a subpar leader. "We've never needed to. Our equipment has lasted us this long."

"Then you're lucky to have a skilled merchant on your side for your first time," she said, rolling her list up and tucking it in her sleeve. "All those prices I showed you were inflated with interest—in order to pay for my services, I am purchasing the goods and weapons at a flat price, the taxing it myself and keeping that money." As we got closer to the market, it became harder to hear her. I focused on her lips; her slight, sly smile did not escape me. "In other words, I'm buying the weapons with your money, then reselling them to you at a reduced price so I make money."

"That… sounds like a scam." I met her eyes again, glowering.

"Not if you think of me like a mercenary with extra benefits," she chimed, and stopped. "You're just paying me my fees." At the mouth of the market, I decided that I did not like Anna anymore. In one day—a few hours, in fact—she had earned my trust, then threw it out and would have made an enemy had I been more hotheaded.

But I was the tactician. It was my job to keep a level head, so I was not going to let her ruffle me.

 **Krystal:**

As always, I had little with me on our travels. Aside from my tome, the cloak Robin lent me, and the pouch on my belt containing my gold and the bottle of hair dye I'd bought, I had nothing. It made packing easy—I didn't have to do anything aside from set my tome down on the desk beside the bed in my room. However, it left me with a problem: in this downtime, while we weren't marching or fighting or "enjoying" the hot spring, I had _nothing_ to do.

For a minute or two after sitting down on the bed, I stared at my closed tome with a mixture of curiosity that had been present since I woke up with it and fear that Tharja had instilled in me. _I could read it_ , I mused. I hadn't made any leeway into deciphering its strange lettering. Whatever it said was still a mystery.

Now, thanks to Tharja's warning, I was not sure I wanted to know what it said.

I was, admittedly, afraid of what the tome was capable of. A small part of me felt ridiculous for fearing the book. Nothing had happened yet. I was casting spells capably. I huddled my knees to my chest and rested my chin on them. _That's what's scary, though_.

Tharja had said I was lucky, so far, to have not hurt anyone. What that tome, or the magic in general, contained was beyond my ability to comprehend. Old magic. "Sometime soon it's going to be sick of being toyed with," she said, like it was conscious. I wanted to doubt her, to refute that statement with her being melodramatic or _trying_ to scare me. But…

 _frail_

I jumped as the low, hissing voice rumbled through my head. I did not recognize the voice, nor where it came from. My head whipped in circles as I tried in vain to locate the source. "Hello?" I called, my voice feeble and quiet and, as the voice said, frail. "Is somewhere there?"

… _false dra…devou…_

I spun around, certain the voice was behind me. No one and nothing was behind me, except the desk, my bed, and… my tome. My eyes widened and my lips parted in suspicion. I took a cautious step closer, eyeing the dark-bound book. The shadows in the room were darker, longer. The walls were stained with the blackness as the light from the door-side lantern was muffled. "Are you…?"

 _you_

"Who are you?" I muttered. My bare feet were planted firm on the wooden floor, not out of choice, but due to my fear coming to a head. I was struck. Cement. "What do you want?" I could not stop staring at the tome on my table.

 _shadowssss_

" _Meddling in things you don't understand."_ Had I not been stock-still already, the ricocheting of Tharja's voice in my head would have frozen me in place. On a normal occasion. Instead, my feet came unglued, my limbs and joints were freed of their bindings.

I took a lurching step forward, stumbling as I was cut loose. I caught myself on the edge of the table and found my face inches from the Flux tome's silver-circled cover. _Shadows,_ I thought to myself. My hands hovered over the leather as I steadied myself. "What is 'false?'" I whispered to the tome. It hummed under my touch. I slid my finger along the silver ring that adorned its front. It reacted. Angrily. The pages shook, the cover rattled, and it threatened to blow itself open without my command. Without my consent. "Wait," I begged, placing my other hand on the cover to hold it shut. "Wait, please, I'm sorry! Don't—"

Hard knuckle rapped against my door. In an instant, the shadows retreated to their corners, the tome stopped quaking, and light filled the room once more. I did not move. I waited in the awkward silence after the knock, suddenly sobered after… whatever had just happened. I wasn't sure if I'd hallucinated the creeping shadows and the books' rage or if I'd dreamed up the knock to break me out of it.

I receiver my answer when whoever it was knocked again. "Krystal?"

"Uh, um," I scrambled to my feet, brushed myself off, and sat down on my bed, hands in my lap and folded tight together until they were pale. "C-Come in." The doorknob twisted. I adjusted myself one more time before a man with side-swept brown hair came in. "Robert?"

"Good afternoon," the merc said with a grin. "How're you doing?"

"U-um, pretty good?" I didn't mean it as a question. I was simply too caught off-guard to form a sure response. "D-did you need something?"

He shut the door behind him and leaned against it. "I just wanted to talk." He shrugged, his arms crossed. "Figured it's been too long since any of us did and… I'd never really taken the chance to sit and have a straight conversation with just you."

That was true. The two of us had not had a personal conversation. My brow furrowed; now that I thought about it, even when all four of us were together, we never… talked. "All any of us ever talk about is home," I murmured. "All we know about each other is our names."

He nodded. His eyes were closed. "You're right, but not necessarily." Then he opened his eyes, and his grin returned. In two steps, he crossed the distance between the door and my desk, pulled the chair out, spun it around, and sat down in it with his arms crossed over its back. He rested his head on his arms, saying, "The way I see it, we don't need to talk all the time to get a feel for each other. Sure," he shrugged, "we don't know much about each other's pasts, but the same could be said for any of the rest of the Shepherds. We may have come from our backgrounds, but it doesn't define us." He drummed his fingers against his large forearms as he spoke. "I don't know where you grew up, what you like to do, but I can tell you what I _do_ know: you're a shy girl with a penchant for keeping to herself." I blushed as he was spot on, though in retrospect it wasn't a secret. Perhaps it was just the abrupt accuracy of it that embarrassed me. "My guess is that you like to read, though I've never seen you with a book aside from this dark tome here." He jerked his thumb behind him.

I said nothing. This was all very sudden. Within two minutes, he'd come in here with the premise to talk and spilled his entire surface view of me. How was I supposed to react other than a stunned, wide-eyed gape?

He blinked, then chuckled nervously. He scratched the back of his head as his eyes went elsewhere. "U-um, sorry, that… that probably came off a little strong." He laughed again, and cleared his throat. "Yeah, uh, what I was getting at was that, well, _basically_ I have a pretty good idea of how you normally act. So," he returned his arms to the back of the chair, "when you do something unorthodox, it makes me think something is up. Like, I don't know, dying your hair," he twisted a short lock of his own hair, "to match a certain prince's?"

I went rigid, back straight as a pole. No doubt my face was blazing red. I whipped my head to the side to hide my burning cheeks. In the process, I flipped forward the waterfall of midnight blue curls that he was talking about, and I felt the need to explain myself. "I-It wasn't my idea! C-Cordelia told me to do it!" As soon as the shift of blame passed my lips, guilt assaulted me, and forced me to keep talking. "She said it would look good on me, so I listened to her because I thought she had good taste in looks, and she does, but I didn't really think of the consequences, especially after Chrom—"

He leaned forward and I clamped my mouth shut. His interest was piqued if his raised eyebrows were any indication, and my lungs were starved for air. All the blood in my body was in my face, I was blushing so brightly. _Stupid!_ I cursed myself before Robert said, "After he _what_?"

"N-nothing!" I protested, shaking my head vehemently.

Robert laughed. "No, no, you can't tease me like that!" He tapped a rhythm on the back of the chair as he grinned. "What'd blueblood do? It had to be quite something if you dyed your hair like his—"

"I didn't!" Except I did dye my hair. I groaned. A ran through the topic of my frustration, grabbing a handful of the sea-colored tresses. "That's not why I dyed my hair!" If he was surprised by my tone, he did not show it. That would change. "I wouldn't have done it at all if I thought about what it meant! Especially after he kicked me out of his room." That did it. My blood boiled, grew too hot and set a light behind me. I blew up. The force of my emotions bursting free forced me to my feet.

"All I was trying to do was help. If I'd have been smart, I would have left him to work it out on his own, but my reckless, stupid self barged in and watched as he threw things and freaked out and I decided to _hug_ him? Why did I think that would work? Because he started crying? Then in the morning, while I'm practically on top of him, he just tells me to get out." Did I say more than I meant to? Absolutely. Did I care? Not in the slightest. All my embarrassment and shame at what happened that night transitioned into anger and frustration. And I needed to vent for once.

"Sounds like a dick move to me," Robert goaded. At least, I would realize he was goading me on later, and for my own good at that. I needed to get this out. I'd bottled it up for too long.

"It was!" I said. "I mean, the least he could have done was ask me to leave politely. _Instead_ , he tells me that it's 'better for the both of us if I go.'" I rolled my eyes and ran a hand through my hair. I spun around to face the man suffering through my rant. "How stupid is that?"

Robert looked like he wanted to say something, chewing on his bottom lip, but bit it down and instead said, "Pretty stupid. This has got you really riled up, huh?" I gave him a look saying, _You think?_ which he understood. In response, he stood and shoved the chair back into its spot with force and energy to match my rampant frustration. "Then let's go do something about it! Let's go blow some shit up!" He reached behind him, grabbed Flux and tossed it to me.

"Just point me in a direction." I already had the tome open.

"Whoa, whoa," he said, putting out his hands to slow me. He had a somewhat fearful look in his eyes. Either fear, or… something else that lit them up in a strange way. "Hold your horses, girl. I'm glad you're eager, but we should take this outside." I lowered my hands, ashamed, and closed my tome. He raised a finger and grinned, however. "Lucky for you, I've got just the place. Spotted it on the way into town."

* * *

"Wasn't aware Southtown had a training area," Robert said as he lead me past the town's front gate. "But I spotted a set of dummies out here when we walked in. Figured they must have installed them after Chrom and co. stopped the first big bandit raid." He pat the sword at his waist. "Was planning to use it myself later, maybe see if Cordy wanted to train with me, but I think you need this a little more than either of us do."

We walked to an opening in the trees outside the furthest building. The spot was clear, a worn circle of dirt where the grass had been trodden away. Leaves or red and orange were piled around it in a circle, and spread through the small area was a grouping of four or five training dummies stood up, each with numerous cuts and arrows in them. Beside the set, lying along the leaves, were several more. Good.

Despite the time taken to get here, I was still burning. I wanted to destroy something.

I opened Flux and let the pages turn on their own. It was coursing with power, shuddering, urging. It felt like it _wanted_ to be used. But as soon as I turned my outstretched hand toward the emotionless, lifeless dummies, the energy died.

The pages stopped fluttering, the circles around me faded, and the book stopped shuddering. My hand fell back to my side, limp without the magic driving it. I shivered inwardly, and lost the feeling of the leather in my hand. Almost… empty. Something in my core felt like it vanished for the shortest time, and the dummy seemed colorless. Everything was grey, in that split second before I gasped, blinked, and took a step back, Flux falling out of my hand.

"Krystal?" Robert asked, his arms uncrossing—they were crossed?—and walking toward me. He put a hand on my shoulder when I gasped. "Are you alright?" I blinked twice, a third time, then shut my mouth and looked at him. "Are you okay?"

"I…" My eyes fell to where Flux lay. I wasn't angry anymore. I could have considered it a miracle, had it not been for that brief time where I felt devoid of not just anger, but sensation. No spell came; instead, the book stole my emotions to fuel a fire that was muffled. I later learned that what happened was sheer luck, but at the time I was relieved.

"Krystal?"

"Yes," I blurted. I swallowed hard, and said, "Yes, I'm alright." I tore my eyes away from the book and our eyes met. I saw his doubt, a lingering concern. He took a step toward me, one of his hands outstretched my way like he thought I'd fall.

"Are you sure?"

"I am," I said. I was only half-convinced, myself, but I didn't want to worry him. I'd already embarrassed myself once in front of him, blowing up like I had. Besides, I wasn't angry anymore. I offered a small smile in the hopes to appease him. "I just… I don't know," I shrugged a little and turned away. _Think of an excuse, come on!_ I bit my lip—praying he didn't notice—before murmuring, "Wasting my tome like this won't help me at all. There's no point in using resources to vent."

"Well you need to get it out somehow," he said. He was almost encouraging, eager, like he _wanted_ me to destroy something. Part of me wanted to indulge him. Even if I could, though… I didn't want to. My heart was still beating a mile a minute. I was waiting for my breathing to even so I could convince him.

"Talking about it was enough," I promised. I forced myself to stop fiddling with the hem of my cloak. I clasped them in front of me and did what I could to remedy my shifting feet. "I appreciate your concern, however."

He measured me with a scrutinizing, narrow-eyed gaze, his lips pressed into a firm line. The air was too warm for this. I looked away again. Seconds like hours passed before he shrugged, his features going lax and his hands shoving into his pockets. "If you say so. Kinda wanted to see something explode, but I'll have to see to that on my own." He drew his sword. It took all of my effort not to jump at the sudden flash of steel.

"U-um—"

"Well, I won't keep you," he said. He turned away and approached the relatively unused dummies. I watched as he levelled his sword at the targets. His stance steadied, as did his breathing. His feet slid apart, and in a jerking motion, he lurched forward and slashed at the dummy. His blade cut deep. He wrenched it free, then repeated the motion. His final swing was performed with two hands. Afterward, he took a step back and a deep breath. When he realized I was still standing there, he glanced toward me with a chuckle and said, "You can head back, if you want. You don't have to stand and watch me."

"U-uh, um," I swallowed. "Right. Well, thank you, I guess? For, um, for bringing me out here."

"No problem," he said, levelling his sword again. "Let me know if you ever need to vent again."

I made a small noise in my throat—an attempt at responding. Maybe it was agreement. I didn't know. It never came out. My feet spun me around. Three steps away, I heard a whisper.

 _Human_

I stopped in my tracks and took a half turn, just enough so I could glimpse Flux from the corner of my eye. I'd forgotten it, but the book did not move. I could have imagined it. My nerves, as always, mixing up my thoughts. _But I swore I heard…_

… _always darkness…_

 _That_ I heard. No mistake. I faced the book entirely now. Robert was still swinging at the dummy—he didn't hear it. I was not imagining this. I was not crazy, and I was most certainly not that tired. So… "What are you?" I whispered.

I waited for the tome to shake or flip open like it had in my room. A minute passed, then another. Nothing happened. I frowned. It did not move, it did not speak to me further. I took a tentative step toward the grounded book. Still nothing. I groaned. Robert's constant beating against the training dummy and the rattle as his sword rebounded with a miss were the only unnatural sounds.

"Why are you silent now?" I asked. "Why do you not speak to me when Robert can hear?" Nothing. I groaned and took another step. "Why do you speak to me at all?" This was ridiculous. I hoped Robert did not turn around right now and see me speaking to a book. If only it would speak again so it would hear! I knelt down over it, nudged it. "What are you?"

As you could guess, I received no response. I rolled my eyes and snatched the book from the cold dirt. If it would not speak to me again, I would take it as a blessing. This was strange, and I did not want to worry about it.

Yet I could not brush it off as my imagination, not after it happening twice. Nor could I diagnose what _was_ happening, however. I had no knowledge of what this magic was, or if this was usual.

But Tharja did. She warned me about this. I prayed to the skies that she would be willing to help me, or at least open up the door to hear me out. She _did_ tell me to find a teacher before something bad happened. She did not specify to whom that bad thing would occur. This was my sign. Coming out here with Robert was straddling the fence, though he of course did not know the extent of his influence. As a dark mage, Tharja knew the consequences. She all but told me she would teach me. Right? She would teach me because… She would teach me, she would _help_ me because she did not want me going awry. _Probably._ I winced. _Hopefully_.

I crept back into town. My eyes flicked left and right past the gate and I clutched my book over my chest. Without a spirit of frustration possessing me and driving along the street, I found it harder to keep my head up. I felt eyes on me, heard murmurs of passersby— _who is that girl_ , _why is she dressed like that,_ or _isn't that a Plegian outfit_ , the lattermost of which dripped with disdain. Doubtless some of them knew I rode in with the Shepherds, but their gawking was no better. If anything they stared, and I did what I could to weather it. By the time I reached the inn, however, I was mentally and spiritually exhausted.

I cast a last look at someone walking by. Our eyes met, they gave the usual polite, pressed line of a smile and I raised my hand in the faintest hint of a wave before what felt like a wall slammed into my turning head.

I rebounded, stumbled back with my hand on my head. "Ah!" I hissed. "Owowowow…"

"Gods, are you okay?" I opened my blurry, teared-up eyes to see a man standing in front of me, inside the open door to the in. He glanced behind him, ran a hand through his blue hair, and said, "I'm so sorry, I—I, um…" His hands hovered close to me, unsure of what to do. "Are you alright?"

"Chrom?" I winced, taking a moment to think past my throbbing headache. "I... yes, I think I'm okay."

He sighed. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "I should have been more careful. I didn't realize you were on the other side of the door!" He shifted on his feet, looked about nervously. "Look, um, why don't you come inside. We can sit you down and—well, I was looking for you, but you didn't answer when I knocked, and Anna said you'd gone out this way with Robert, so I figured I'd come look for you out here, too, and—Gods, look, I'm sorry."

"It's alright," I said, lowering my hand. "It was an accident." He opened the door preemptively and held it open for me to go through. I kept my eyes low, but I caught the Anna at the front desk peek over her book and glasses to watch me ease my way into the lobby.

Chrom followed close behind, saying, "Let me help you back to your room." I didn't need the help, but found it hard to argue when his hand settled between my shoulders, gentle yet firm. This was a far cry from how he'd acted when we spoke last. Not an unwanted change, certainly. I did not decline his help, and we crossed the lobby into the side hall. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again as we mounted the stairs.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to laugh or roll my eyes. He was so fussy, it was both laughable and irritating. "Yes," I told him, putting my hand to the wall as we rounded the corner. "I'm perfectly fine. Just a headache, is all."

"Well, if you're sure…" I couldn't see him from behind me, but his tone was enough to finally break the tension and pull a giggle from me.

"I am." I turned to face him once we reached the top. "It was just a door, Captain, not a sword." He walked with me in silence back to my room. We stopped at the door and I paused. He, too, stayed, awkward and unsure against the wall opposite me. Where I should have thanked him and said goodbye for now, I instead felt the need to talk, to keep this going. He was open, now. I wanted—no, needed to keep him going before he closed off again, like he had that morning. I cleared my throat and leaned back against the closed wooden door. "You, um, you said you were looking for me," I said, drudging it back up. "Did you need something?"

His brow furrowed, and his lips went down in a frown. "Well, I had wanted to talk to you about something." His eyes were shifty, his feet unsteady as his weight alternated between them. My first thought was my hair—in an instant, my mind began to scrape together an excuse for why I dyed it to match his. In addition, I prepared an apology in advance to Cordy for pitting the blame on her, before I discarded the excuse altogether.

Either way, my distress was undue, as Chrom's next words were, "I…I wanted to apologize." I blinked. My thoughts fell away and I… was relieved, in more ways than one.

He did not meet my eyes. As he continued, one of his hands drifted up to smooth through his hair and scratch at his cheek. "That morning in the Outrealm, I was rude to you. Terrible to you, really," he admitted. "You were trying to help and—well, you did help." His eyes flick up to me, then dart down to the floor and sweep back and forth. "Quite a bit, actually. Thanks to you, I was able to get my head on straight and… figure things out, so," he nodded, as if accepting it himself, "I am gravely sorry. You deserve a proper thanks. Which is why…" He paused. His shoulders went slack, his eyes closed, and I almost spoke up, but he took a deep, long breath before looking meeting my eyes. His shoulders were squared, his posture straight. When he spoke, his voice was firm and even. "I would like to treat you to dinner."

I blinked. "Dinner?" With Chrom?

He nodded. "Yes, figured you'd like something of the sort, so—" Catching himself, he backtracked. "I-I mean, if you don't want to, that is fine as well. I wouldn't force you into anything, and could find some other way to repay y—"

"No!" I blurted. My cheeks burned at his surprised silence, lips half-parted as I cut him off. With the spotlight on me, I averted my gaze. "No, it's just that, well, it does me good to know that you're doing better and that I was able to help." I smiled weakly. "That's reward enough."

He smiled, too. It was soft and warm, and brightened my own smile until we were both reduced to two people staring and smiling at each other in a hallway. To my thanks, he broke the stasis by clearing his throat. My blush did not fade, but I could at least meet his eyes as he said, "Well, I think I'd like to take you out to dinner regardless. I've never stayed in Southtown long enough to dine here, and I'd hate to have to be alone, so if you're fine by it…?"

"It would be my pleasure," I struggled to say without stuttering. It was almost a good moment, but as soon as I finished speaking, I thought of what Cordelia said again and the air was suddenly much too hot.

"Will tonight work?" he asked.

"Y-yeah," I choked out, my throat clamping shut. "I'll—I'll see…ya…" I reached behind me and opened the door. I gave a little wave as I slipped inside and out of view. When I shut the door behind me, I leaned against it until it clicked shut. I slid to the floor and sighed. I was going to dinner with Chrom. A real life prince. Even though it wasn't a date, I was nervous.

 _What am I going to wear_? I stared down at my mage's attire. _Will this hurt his public image?_ He wouldn't care at all, but he was going to be exalt. I sighed. This was going to reflect on him either way. I would have to at the very least cover up. I curled a strand of hair around one finger. _Perhaps Cordelia can help me with that._ I blanched as a scarier thought surfaced:

 _Is Frederick going to be there_?

 **Mikhalus Greil:**

The air was still atop the Dragon's Table. Down below its spired heights, everything seemed a speck. The trodden roads leading from the wastes to the rocky deserts and beyond appeared as thin, weaving lines.

My boots clopped over the flat, carved stone of the monument's rubblel-littered surface and toward the massive, cathedral-like shrine built on the northernmost edge. Two Grimleal priests strode out of it to meet me at the edge of the summoning circle in the middle of which I'd warped into. I waited for them to close the distance with my hands in the pockets of my robes.

"Master Greil," one said, giving a slight bow. The other did the same. "We were not expecting your return to the table so soon."

"Nor was I," I said, looking over them. Peeking out from inside the dark, arched doorway, was a head of reddish hair. It disappeared immediately, shutting the door behind it. I stopped a frown from showing. _What is he doing here_? "But I was pulled temporarily from the frontline, and found the opportunity to pay a brief visit." I pushed between them and started past. They trailed behind me. "How is my precious project doing?" I asked.

"She's well, sir." His head bent low so the skull-headdress he wore covered his face. "We've been providing food and water to her daily—"

" _Daily_?" I asked. I sent a scrupulous glare back at him

"Y-yes, sir," he spluttered, clasping his hands in front of him. "The documents we pulled from overseas state that a subject is more susceptible to offering when in a state of desperation, so—"

"I see." He stood up straighter at my acceptance. "And has she shown any signs of possession?"

He deflated again. "No, sir, she has not." The silent priest hurried in front of me to open the door. As we passed into the shadowy, torchlit interior of the shrine, the first one continued with, "She's remained rather unresponsive in all regards. Any attempts at speech are met with silence and stubbornness."

"Then she's retained her posture, at least." I smiled at the thought. _What a specimen_. I turned down a corridor parallel to the main hall, with marble pillars lining its dark length and torches dotted between every other pair. At the end was a flight of stairs leading up. "I should like to see her and attempt to elicit a response on my own. Leave me."

"Very well, sir."

The two of them bowed and broke away, turning back down the way we'd come. I followed the corridor to the end and climbed the steps. At the top, I opened my door and swept inside. I studied the interior—the same sandstone material made up this room, my desk being carved out of the room and thus a part of it, though the chair and my bed were stolen from the king's own castle for my leisure.

In the interest of saving time, I grabbed few things: a fresh bag of warp powder, a quill and inkwell, a sheaf of papers, and a Bolganone tome. I lashed the first and last to my belt, then tucked the others into the pockets of my robes.

After checking over a last few things—namely that my books had not been disturbed—I left the room and locked it, but not before setting a ward on my lock. Normally I wouldn't lock it, much less ward it, but with that boy running around, I was not going to take chances on him breaking in a making away with something of import. With that matter solved, I returned down the stairs and made my way toward my second point of interest during my short visit.

Upon reaching the bottom, I caught a figure in red slinking out of sight. I shook my head with an exasperated sigh, but otherwise let him get away. I didn't have the time to pursue him.

I made my way into the main hall. For the most part a dimmer room than any other in the shrine—sans, perhaps, my basement work area—it was lit by sparse torches and, jutting out from the middle of the back wall, was an enormous altar set in front of a statue carved in the likeness of the Wings of Despair itself. The statue's six eyes glows a deep purple, almost as if it were the real thing, and offered a little more light into the dismal resting place of many people.

The altar itself consisted of a square table led up to by stairs emblazoned with the Brand of Defile and surrounded by a round carpet in alternating red and green of varying shades. Hanging directly over the table was the statue's head, maw parted, ready to consume whatever was placed upon its plate.

Four priests were knelt at its base. They did not stir as I passed them. With their heads bowed and hands clasped in front of them, I doubted they even recognized my presence.

I went down the nearest set of stairs in the massive hall—too big, I would say; every devout follower of the Fell Dragon could file into this room and only fill half of it. But, I supposed, it needed to be this big to house all of the fodder that would be fed to Grima upon its resurrection.

My footsteps echoed down the stone steps and the enclosing walls. The thin stairwell offered little wiggle room, and sound bounced all the way down. As a result, I could hear damn near everything from the floors connected to this flight, all the way from the hushed chatter of priests to the heavy breathing of Risen to the pained, fearful whimpers and sobs of gathered dragonkin. The second and latter sounds grew ever louder as I descended further, until I passed both. I paused once the whimpering was above me, tempted to backtrack and pay a visit to those divine morsels, but thought better of it so as to save time. I was already bound to get an earful from Gangrel when I returned.

I continued on, reaching my destination at the bottom. I took a peek inside to see that, yes, it was still dark and, yes, still damp. Still a prison cell. I suppressed a smile and opened the barred door.

Once inside, I shut the door again and took out my Bolganone tome. I filtered just enough magic into the book to make its pages glow with a fiery light, and a faint spell ring manifested around me, filling the miserable space with enough light for me to see. I stepped to the center of the room, going farther until the light from my tome glinted off a ring of gold. I took two steps closer, knelt down, and smiled. In a soothing voice, I said, "Hello, my darling."

A head of blonde hair, matted to her head with sweat and falling in thin strands over her dispirited face. Once steady, calming golden eyes—the same color as her hair—now held little of that regal presence. She looked decrepit—her face was beginning to hollow, her lips were dry and cracked, and dark bags had formed under her eyes. It was a shameful state to see her in, and it saddened me. My smile disappeared, replaced with a frown. I sighed and placed a hand on her slumped shoulder. "I'm sorry it has to be this way," I murmured to her. I had to admit, what little strength remained in her eyes was enough to glare me down. That her resolve had lasted this long was relieving and gave _me_ the energy to keep talking to her. We would see how long that would last. "It hurts me to see you like this, but I have my reasons. I trust you know that."

She did not respond.

We stared at one another for quite some time. "They tell me they've been giving you less food. Is this true? It certainly looks it." I lifted her arm, tilted her head, gave her a more thorough inspection. "Their reasoning is to cause stress, to induce you into accepting the sacrifice. I think it's just spite. You were a big pain in their asses for a long time. Now that they've got you, they think to take their time with you. I would help, but there is precious little I can do about it." I stood up, brushed my knees and robes off. "My only advice is to stay thankful that their punishment isn't worse and… pray that your goddess's light can pierce these walls before that changes."

I turned and walked away. I was halfway across the room when her barely audible voice said, "What do you want from me?"

I stopped. I took a moment to measure and word my answer properly. "To the rest of the world, you're dead. Another casualty of the war." I clasped my hands behind my back. If she wanted, or had the strength, she could sneak up behind me, take my tome and use it against me. But violence was not in her nature. "To me, you're just being born. You're a project, I would say. I would compare you to my Dawn, but you have the capability to be so much more when we're through."

"I won't be a weapon," she said with resolve disproportionate to her position.

"I'll show you how vile the world is, and then we'll measure how surely you can answer that. If you're anywhere near as benevolent as I hope, then you'll join me in my quest to purify this world of its disease."

"I _won't_ kill anyone for you."

"We'll have to wait and see." I strode away and left her glowering at my back. She did not move from her corner. I shut the door behind me, didn't bother to lock it, and made my way back up the stairs, past the sounds of pain and undeath. At the top, I walked straight for the exit, not bothering with the side path and passing by the five priests still praying at—

I paused mid step. A small grin played at my lips, but I quashed it. I spun on my heel and strode in a straight line toward the huddled priests. My footsteps sounded large and powerful, reverberating in the open area and drowning out their mumbled pledges to the Breath of Ruin.

One of the priests, a fair bit smaller than the others, was unmoving, his head still bowed but otherwise unengaged in the prayer. I reached down and snagged him by the collar. He gasped, and his stolen headdress fell off as I pulled him to his feet, revealing a head of dark red hair.

"Hello, Hannibal."

"U-um, hello, Greil."

"What are you doing at here?" I kept my tone neutral. It was easy to keep my frustration down, in part because I was impressed he managed to slip away from the castle and because I wanted to know how exactly he traveled halfway across the width of Plegia to get here.

"Well, um…" he gulped, and I spun him around. Aside from the robes he wore, which were much too large for his thirteen year old body, his pockets bulged with other filched odds and ends. He saw where my eyes were directed and let out a nervous chuckle.

I raised my eyebrows. "You've been busy."

"I, um, well—"

"Come with me." I let go of his collar and walked toward the main exit. The noise of his shorter, quicker footsteps filled the spaces between mine. Once outside, I shut the door behind both of us and leaned against them, crossing my arms. The wind had picked up, blowing dust across the platform and ruffling both my robes and Hannibal's stolen set. I waved a hand for him to dump his pockets. "Show me what you've got. And be quick about it."

He sulked, but reached into his pockets and pulled out a variety of things, not the least of which was interesting, until I noticed a glint on his belt when he lifted his arm. "Hold." I put a hand out to stop him, and he did without hesitation, halfway through pulling a string of beads free. "What's that on your belt?"

He looked unsure, which was all the evidence I needed. "Bring it here."

He trudged up to me, untied the object from his belt, and handed it to me. I was unable to hide my surprise at the sight of a bejeweled dagger, glimmering in the afternoon sun. The blue sheathe was lined with gold and embedded with gems down the center. Similarly, the pommel had a large red gem and a matching jewel rested in the center of the guard. "Now where did you find this?" I pulled the blade free and inspected it. A perfect silver blade, free of blemishes, though an inscription was carved down the length of it. " _In its wings we are lifted, its breath we are pure, and in its maw we are free_ ," I read off.

In front of me, Hannibal shrugged. "I-I don't know," he said, "I just took from one of the prayer rooms."

"It was just lying there?" I asked, returning my gaze to him. He nodded. _This belongs to a high-ranking priest. Losing it would be sacrilege._ I narrowed my eyes. "You aren't lying to me, are you?" He shook his head, and I frowned. "No, you never do, do you? You're already a step above your father." The last part came out hushed as I slipped the dagger back into its sheathe. I sighed, and in a louder, clearer voice, said, "Well, if we don't know who lost it, we can't return it." His eyes went wide, hips lips parted in a ghost of a smile at my words.

"Are you saying—you're saying I can keep it?"

It was my turn to shrug. "I'm not going to go searching through the Grimleal asking if someone lost his knife." He laughed. "Besides, whoever lost that committed a grave mistake. He should be lucky my cousin didn't find out, else his punishment would be much more severe than losing his knife to some princeling."

He beamed. "Thank you so much, Greil!" He snagged the dagger from my open palm and hurried to fasten it to his belt.

"Just keep it hidden. I don't need some Bishop catching you running around the castle with one of his fellow's daggers and reporting it to my cousin. Are we clear?" He nodded. I grinned at him and ruffled his hair—a shame that it was this color, but at least it was one of the only things he inherited from his dear old pa. That, and the penchant for stealing. "Good. Now pick all that back up," I said, pointing at his pile of discarded loot. "I don't have a lot of time and would like to get you back to the castle as soon as possible, else your father will yell at me more than he's already going to." I reached for the pouches of warp powder. Getting us both to the castle would use up the rest of the first.

He went still. "A-actually, I have my own way back."

"Oh?" I paused, hand an inch above the pouch.

He shifted on his feet. "Yeah, I… I can get myself home. You don't need to worry."

I eyed him down. He wasn't lying—however he'd gotten here, he could also get back. I was tempted to ask what this method was, but as I'd already said, I was pressed for time. Salem and Yael had no doubt restocked by now and were ready to be on the move. I squeezed my eyes shut at the thought of the King's impatient squealing. When I opened them again, I said, "Very well. But take this." I handed him the nearly empty warp powder pouch. "Just in case things don't work out." He took it, and I patted his hand before grabbing my own teleportation dust. "Take care of yourself, Hannibal. I'll see you in a few weeks."

He waved goodbye, and I threw a pinch of dust at my feet.

As soon as I did, realization struck me: not only did I never ask what exactly his transportation was, I failed to find out what Hannibal had been doing at the Table. I did not get much time to ponder this revelation, however, as upon reappearing beside Salem's sleigh, I was met with the sounds of combat.

Clashing metal, shouting voices, the roar of wyverns, and flashes of lightning painted a swift picture in my head as I stumbled out of the stupor of warping.

"Sir!" Behind me, Yael was hooking the blade of a swordsman with his axe and dragging it to the ground. His fist shot forward into the enemy's nose. With a broken nose, his guard dropped. Yael took the man sword and ran it through his own chest. Seizing his axe from the ground, he approached. "Sir, a group Feroxi were lying wait in the hou—"

"Debriefing can wait," I said. "Where are Salem and Gangrel?"

A bolt of lightning accompanied by an angry growl answered one of those questions. I followed Yael around the sleigh and behind a house. Gangrel was surrounded by three armored knights, but four were lying on the ground with scorch marks and holes through their armor. One stabbed at the king, but he sidestepped with surprising grace. He cut the lance apart with his Levin sword then hopped back, closer to Yael and I. "About time you show up, Greil!" the king snarled. His yellow outfit was splattered with blood. As was his face, but the glimmer of delighted madness in his eyes overshadowed it. "Not much of a guard, are you?"

Yael launched his Silver Axe into the chest piece of one armor knight. The plate crumpled like paper. In a flash, the Captain was on top of the second armor knight and tearing his lance away. Gangrel dashed toward the last and levied a bolt of lightning from the sky with a flamboyant arc of his sword. Both knights died simultaneously, one with his spear jammed under his helmet and the other fried in his armor.

Behind us, a wyvern snarled as it battered a fighter that came too close.

"Where the hell were you?" Gangrel shouted now that the enemy was away. I hushed him with a finger; Salem was not yet with us, and I could still hear fighting.

Yael was quicker than I, pulling his axe from its victim and sprinting toward the noise. I followed, and with an exaggerative sigh, the king did as well.

Yael rounded a corner and shouted, "Salem!" I turned the same corner in time to see the female Captain throw a mage toward her cohort and him cleave the unarmored fool in two. Salem spun around and rolled under a swinging axe. She came up on the wielder's flank and kicked behind his knee. Her hands flew forward, wrapped around the man's arm. With a snap, it was broken and his weapon was in her hand. She decapitated him with a single stroke.

That left only a single swordsman, who the Wyvern Captains approached in tandem. The small shield attached to his shoulder would do little to protect him from the combined might of two of Plegia's finest.

Salem put up a hand for Yael to stand by. He stopped, lowered his axe. His posture was deceptively relaxed. Salem stepped closer. The mercenary lashed out without hesitation. A fatal mistake. Salem reached forward, seized his wrist mid-swing, and redirected it into the man's gut. As he gasped in pain, she pulled a dagger from her belt and slit his throat. He slid to the ground to bleed.

Salem cleaned her blade and sheathed it. Yael put away his own weapon, and I asked, "What happened here?"

"You disappeared is what happened!" Gangrel spat. "You're supposed to be here when things like this happen, not—"

I hushed him with a finger. "What happened?"

Yael looked about to speak, but Gangrel would not stop blabbing. "Do _not_ shush me!" the king said, outraged. "I am your king! I am getting sick and tired of your insubordination, Greil." He closed the distance between us, pushing my hand out of the way and jabbing a finger into my chest. With his face mere inches away from mine, I could see the hate roiling in his spiteful red eyes. "You are in the wrong, here! You disappeared without warning and we were attacked! Your job, as of right now, is to ensure my safety in passing to the frontline, and you are most certainly not doing that!"

"You handled yourself just fine," I responded.

"That is not the point!" he said. "You failed your job. You weren't here."

"Alright!" I conceded. "You're right, I wasn't here. I messed up. Alright. Now, please," I breathed, turning to Yael and Salem, "explain to me what happened."

The two captains shared a look, and Yael spoke up. "Sir, once we'd finished resupplying, a number of Feroxi fighters emerged from the houses and attacked. They were acting as citizens. One of them was the shopkeeper from whom we bought our wares."

"Were the citizens harboring them?" I wondered aloud.

"Of course they were," Gangrel decided. "I'll have a platoon of guards deployed to here and deal with the rabble accordingly. Show them what the price of treason is. As for us, well, we can get right on out of here."

For the first time, I found myself wholeheartedly agreeing with the king. "You know what? You're right. Let's get this shit show on the road. Salem, Yael. Saddle up and let's get a move on."

 **I figured this is as good a place to cut it as any. A 12,000 word chapter, and this is a little more than half the length of the full thing, which will be coming out soon, since I'm almost done with it. But, you guys don't need another 20,000 block of words to sift through, and it makes it easier for me to go through when it's shorter. It's a win-win this way, and you guys don't have to wait as long. Plus, this section is already proofread by our dear Stormrider, so thank you sir for your efforts.**

 **Also, it's mad scuffed that Reggie officially left Nintendo on my birthday. Not the birthday present I wanted on my 18** **th** **birthday, but here we are! Anyway, now I'm an actual real-life adult, so you guys can harass me as much as you want.**

 **That said, please review and give me feedback. There is a discord for this story, too, if you'd like to do it directly, so if anyone is interested in that, PM your ID or whatever and I'll hook you up.**

 **All of the Oats have been harvested.**


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